By Martha Bellisle
Associated Press
SEATTLE — A suburban Seattle police officer was sentenced Thursday to over 16 years in prison for the 2019 shooting death of a homeless man he was trying to arrest for disorderly conduct, marking the first conviction under a Washington state law that made it easier to prosecute officers for on-duty killings.
A jury found Auburn police Officer Jeffrey Nelson guilty June 27 of second-degree murder and first-degree assault in the death of Jesse Sarey.
King County Superior Court Judge Nicole Gaines Phelps sentenced Nelson to just over 16 1/2 years for the murder conviction and 6 1/2 years for assault, to be served concurrently.
Before sentencing Nelson at the high end of the standard range, Phelps chastised the 46-year-old officer for his violent behavior in uniform.
“Respect for the law, here, goes more beyond you, Officer Nelson,” Phelps said. “This is the first case in which a police officer was charged and it in some ways serves as a telescope for others to view police conduct and for police to remember to abide by their training when engaging in situations so that they do not become lethal to them or to others they are sworn to protect and serve.”
Nelson, seated in a packed courtroom in a red short-sleeve jail uniform, his arms covered in tattoos and his hair cut short, showed no emotion as the judge spoke. His wife and other Auburn police officers sat behind him in his support, while Sarey’s friends and family filled the other side of the courtroom.
Prosecutors had said at trial in June that Nelson punched Sarey several times before shooting him in the abdomen. Seconds later, Nelson shot Sarey in the forehead. Nelson had claimed Sarey tried to grab his gun and a knife, so he shot him in self-defense, but video showed Sarey was on his back with his head positioned away from Nelson after the first shot.
King County Special Prosecutor Patty Eakes, citing Nelson’s long history of violence and disregard for his training, asked the judge to sentence him at the higher end of the standard range: 18 years for murder and 10 for the assault conviction.
King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion hailed the sentence as showing Nelson’s actions “were not above the law.”
“The sentence reflects the very serious nature of Jeffrey Nelson’s crimes,” her statement said, noting it was the first time an officer has been tried, convicted and sentenced under the Washington state law that made it easier to prosecutor officers for killings while on duty.
Nelson lawyer Emma Scanlan said the defense will appeal.
“Our deepest sympathies go to his family,” she said in an email. “However, this trial was marred by unprecedented and significant legal errors that deprived Officer Nelson of his constitutional rights. When police officers are charged with crimes they deserve to be treated fairly just like everyone else.”
It was the second case tried since Washington voters in 2018 removed a standard that required prosecutors to prove an officer acted with malice — a standard no other state had. Now they must show the level of force was unreasonable or unnecessary. In December, jurors acquitted three Tacoma police officers in the 2020 death of Manuel Ellis.
The City of Auburn settled with Sarey’s family for $4 million and has paid nearly $2 million more to settle other litigation over Nelson’s actions as an officer. Nelson remains on unpaid leave.
Before sentencing, Nelson’s lawyer Kristen Murray asked the judge to throw out the assault charge as constituting double jeopardy. But the judge let both counts stand, saying jurors recognized that two shots fired seconds apart — after Nelson’s gun jammed and he cleared it — as separate actions.