By Geoff Mirelowitz

SEATTLE, January 25, 2025 — King County Superior Court Judge Nicole Gaines Phelps imposed two days ago a near-maximum sentence of 16 years and 8 months in prison on former Auburn, Washington, police officer Jeffrey Nelson. In June a jury convicted Nelson of both counts filed against him — second-degree murder and first-degree assault — in the death of Jesse Sarey.

Sarey, the 26-year-old son of an immigrant from Cambodia, was experiencing a mental health crisis when he was shot twice on May 31, 2019. However, as the judge observed in extended remarks from the bench, Sarey was unarmed and not posing a danger to anyone else when he was killed.

The sentencing was front-page news in the Seattle Times and was reported more widely across the United States, including in the New York Times.

“The trial,” the Seattle paper reported, “represented a number of firsts in Washington’s legal system, including the first conviction under new police accountability measures contained in 2019’s Initiative 940.”

The New York Times added, “The initiative loosened the standards that needed to be met to criminally prosecute police officers for using deadly force. Before the legal change, prosecutors had to prove that officers acted with malice. Under the reform, a jury must decide if the officer’s action was reasonable.”

I was in the court room on Thursday, January 23. A room so packed — with both Jesse Sarey’s family members and supporters as well as supporters of Nelson — that an overflow room was set aside for those who could not get in.

At a lunch Sarey’s family hosted after the hearing, it was reported that some 180 people also watched a Zoom feed provided by the court. Unfortunately, that feed was cut off midway after it was hacked by one or more unknown individuals, with pornographic images.

The sentence imposed marked the conclusion — for now — of a fight for justice that has lasted more than five years. It has been led by the Sarey family and spearheaded by the relentless determination of Elaine Simons, Jesse’s foster mother. At every stage of the fight, Simons has insisted that Jesse’s life — not just his tragic death — be recognized. She has stressed that the fight for justice for Jesse was part of a larger struggle led by all those families impacted by police violence, who have lost loved ones.

As was true on the day of Nelson’s conviction and at countless demonstrations and events along the way, many members of these impacted families were on hand, some traveling Thursday from as far away as Oregon and Spokane, Washington. As she has done consistently, Simons invited each of these impacted families to say the names of their loved ones and speak to the press that gathered after the hearing. In this way, Simons and others set an example of mutual solidarity that is of the utmost importance now, and for the future.

In the court room Simons and other members of Jesse’s family, including his brothers Matthew (via Zoom) and Kolton and his foster sister Amelia Dillard, offered powerful statements to the court on the impact of Nelson’s actions on them and their family. Jesse’s mother Kari and brother Torell both died in the years between Jesse’s murder and Nelson’s conviction. Family members asserted their early deaths were connected to the tragedy. “You, Mr. Nelson, robbed Jesse of his future,” Simons said. “I believe his mother, Kari, died of a broken heart. She saw you arrested and arraigned but did not live to see this justice served.”

Nelson’s wife Natalie Mounts, as well as an assistant chief of the Auburn police department and other cops, made statements. It was also reported that the mayor of Auburn was present, although she did not offer a statement.

Remarks by the judge

Judge Phelps’ remarks in imposing the near-maximum sentence were therefore distinctly noteworthy. She addressed the support Nelson received from the Auburn police department directly, referring to the lack of any remorse for Nelson’s actions.

“I would take your statements [as being] more credible,” said Phelps, “and I would give them more weight if you at least acknowledged that this man has a past that is not consistent with the person you saw,” Phelps said. “Not one single person did that, and the videos speak for themselves. So that tells me that the Auburn police department will stand by anyone and everyone, as long as they have a badge and a uniform.”

Phelps was referring to videos of Sarey’s murder shown to the jury. Phelps also referred to other information withheld from the jury on the grounds that it could have been prejudicial because it was not directly related to Jesse’s murder. This included the fact that, prior to Sarey’s murder, Nelson had killed two other people, Brian Scaman and Isaiah Obet, while on duty. The city of Auburn paid a $1.25 million settlement to Obet’s family.

However, with the verdict rendered, Phelps referred to a conversation Nelson had at one time with another Auburn cop. Speaking of someone they were observing, Nelson said, “Do you want to fuck him up? I want to fuck him up.”

She continued, “If you want to test a man’s character give him power. In this situation, I would add give him power, a badge, and a gun. Character is who you are when no one is looking. When Officer Nelson thought that no one was looking … he took the opportunity to harm others.”

Phelps also spoke from the bench directly to Elaine Simons, acknowledging that Simons had attended “every single hearing except one” in this case that went on for several years, marked by many continuances before the trial finally began. “I saw you,” said the judge. This resonated with many impacted family members who, like Simons, have never given up in their quest for some form of justice, no matter how difficult that road has been.

Phelps also ruled against defense motions to vacate the assault conviction (on the grounds that the crime was all “one incident”). However, the two charges stemmed from the fact that after disabling Jesse with his first shot, Nelson then cleared his gun, looked around and shot him again in the head.

It seemed clear Nelson’s attorney was arguing with the jury’s findings. Similarly, in asking for a reduced sentence, Nelson’s counsel argued that the facts in the case were contested. That of course is true, but the jury rendered a decision. Nelson’s lawyers tried to relitigate the case in their arguments during sentencing. The judge rejected all of them.

Because Nelson is the first police officer convicted under the law established by the I-940 referendum, Phelps noted the precedent-setting nature of the case.

“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.”

The issue of “police training” loomed large in the testimony during the trial. Other officers had been dispatched to assist Nelson who could — and the prosecution argued should — have waited before approaching Jesse to arrest him on his own. The prosecution also challenged Nelson’s use of his gun as contrary to what the formal training advises in such a situation.

That testimony may have influenced the jury, but key was the video evidence that rendered Nelson’s claim he was acting in self-defense unbelievable to the jurors. Many families impacted by police violence are painfully aware that such evidence is rarely available and that, whatever may be taught in formal police training classes, many cops act on the street, like Nelson did, as judge, jury, and executioner.

‘It doesn’t take away the pain’

Speaking to the media following the sentencing, Fred Thomas, who with his wife Annalesa lost their son Leonard to a police murder in 2013, welcomed Nelson’s sentence. But in a rising voice he declared, “It doesn’t take away the pain. It doesn’t return my son.”

While the sentencing marks a definitive moment in this fight, it is not the final one. Nelson’s attorneys have stated their intention to appeal the conviction and the sentence.

It is also necessary to note that the day prior to Nelson’s sentencing, Donald Trump issued presidential pardons to two cops convicted in Washington D.C., one of second-degree murder and obstruction of justice and the other of participating in a cover up of the facts. Unlike Nelson who has been in jail since his June conviction, these two cops had been free on bail.

“‘They were arrested, put in jail for five years because they went after an illegal,’ Mr. Trump said on Tuesday,” reported the New York Times. “‘And I guess something happened where something went wrong, and they arrested the two officers and put them in jail for going after a criminal.’

“In fact, Mr. Hylton-Brown [the cops’ victim] was an American citizen, said David L. Shurtz, a lawyer representing the Hylton-Brown estate. And it was the police officers, not Mr. Hylton-Brown, who were found to have committed a crime.”

The KING 5 Seattle television station posted on YouTube the full four-hour and 26-minute video of the court hearing. It can be watched here.

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