SerpApi.Org
A man who tried to sell or trade a stolen truck at a Milton apartment complex and then fatally shot a person who met with him about the vehicle has been sentenced to 22 years in prison.
William Daniel Morris Rowley pleaded guilty to second-degree murder with a deadly weapon for the April 7, 2024 homicide of 45-year-old Michael Morrow. He also admitted to second-degree assault.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Grant Blinn sentenced Rowley on July 17, imposing a prison term below the standard sentencing range of about 24-33 years. According to court records, prosecutors and the defense agreed to recommend a sentence below the range, based in part on an imperfect self-defense claim.
Milton Police Department detectives learned through witness interviews and surveillance video that Morrow and his girlfriend made an arrangement through a third party on Facebook Messenger to meet with a man who was trying to sell a truck, a red Chevrolet Silverado.
They initially met at a smoke shop on Pacific Highway, and Rowley directed Morrow and his girlfriend to the parking lot for Sitka Heights Apartments. According to the probable cause document, Morrow’s girlfriend later told detectives that they went to look at the truck, but they weren’t ready to buy it. The girlfriend reported that once they told Rowley this, he became frustrated.
In Rowley’s guilty-plea statement filed in court, he said he and Morrow were discussing trading vehicles for about 15 minutes, and then he walked a short distance away and called the person who had helped set up the meeting. When Rowley returned to Morrow’s vehicle, he said the man had a gun in his hand that was resting on his lap.
“In the moment I believed I had no choice but to shoot first,” Rowley, 32, said. “However, I realize that I used more force than was reasonable in that situation.”
Officers responded at about 9:39 p.m. for reports of gunshots, and Morrow’s girlfriend flagged the police down on Pacific Highway. Morrow had multiple gunshot wounds. He later died at a hospital.
The next day the Washington State Patrol found Rowley’s truck on fire on State Route 7 near the Interstate 5 interchange in Tacoma. According to court documents, it had been reported stolen the previous month.
Inside, detectives found a 9 mm handgun that matched the caliber of bullet casings found at the shooting scene. The police later arrested Rowley on a bench warrant during a traffic stop in Tacoma.
Prosecutors originally charged Rowley with first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder under different theories of the offense, first-degree assault, second-degree arson, possession of a stolen firearm, unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle.
In a court filing about the amended charges Rowley pleaded guilty to, deputy prosecuting attorney Thomas Howe said there was litigation risk based on the belief that more than one civilian witness would be uncooperative at trial.
Rowley has six prior felony convictions as an adult in Pierce County from 2014 to 2019, including for second-degree burglary, possession of a stolen vehicle and attempted eluding.
In other news out of Superior Court
Man sentenced for drunkenly fleeing police, causing fatal Tacoma wreck
A man who drove drunk, sped away from a State Patrol trooper who spoke with him at a red light and then caused a deadly collision in Tacoma has been sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in prison.
Loritana Vaiala Auomanu, 21, pleaded guilty June 17 to vehicular homicide DUI, third-degree assault and attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle, all felonies. He also admitted to reckless driving, a gross misdemeanor.
Judge Shelly Moss sentenced him the same day, imposing a sentence near the high end of the standard sentencing range of about 8-11 years.
Auomanu had no prior criminal convictions. According to court documents, his blood-alcohol content was 0.094 within two hours of the crash.
Gayle Horner, 74, died in the Dec. 30, 2025 collision at the intersection of 72nd Street and McKinley Avenue. In victim-impact statements submitted to the court, friends and relatives said she was a loving and generous mother, grandmother and great-grandmother who was the heart of her family. Her ex-husband wrote that she was known as “Rosie” to family and friends.
“If you were loved by Rosie, you never had to wonder if you mattered,” her ex-husband wrote. “Even though we were separated our love of family was strong and caring.”
According to court documents, a trooper began following Auomanu on State Route 7 after he was seen veering into different lanes. He stopped at a red light at 72nd Street, and the trooper approached his vehicle, a Toyota Corolla.
Auomanu sped east on 72nd during his interaction with the trooper. According to the trooper’s incident report, he followed Auomanu without initiating a pursuit.
Auomanu struck Horner’s Nissan Murano at the McKinley Avenue intersection. Auomanu’s Toyota caught fire, and the trooper pulled him to safety. Horner was trapped in her vehicle and had to be extricated by Fire Department personnel.
In addition to the charges Auomanu pleaded guilty to, prosecutors originally charged him with being a minor in possession of or consuming alcohol and second-degree murder by causing Horner’s death while attempting to elude police.
In a court filing about the amended charges, deputy prosecuting attorney Miriam Norman said the resolution accounted for Auomanu’s lack of criminal history and potential evidentiary issues that could arise at trial.
Driver sentenced for DUI crash that killed dirt-bike rider on Key Peninsula
A 36-year-old Mason County man who drove under the influence of drugs and alcohol on the Key Peninsula and went into oncoming traffic, fatally striking a man riding a dirt bike, has been sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in prison.
A jury found Zachary Douglas Hines guilty of DUI vehicular homicide and driving under the influence in a trial in May. His DUI offense was vacated at sentencing due to double jeopardy.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Philip Sorensen sentenced Hines on July 17, giving him a punishment at the high end of the standard sentencing range. The defendant had prior misdemeanor convictions for DUI and hit and run.
The man killed in the Feb. 4, 2025 collision was 40-year-old Timothy Trammel. According to his obituary, Trammel was an ironworker, a sports enthusiast and a devoted father.
Washington State Patrol detectives, according to prosecutors’ trial brief, determined that Hines was driving west on state Route 302 in a Ford F350. At about 7:49 p.m., Hines crossed into the eastbound lanes and struck Trammel in the far lane head-on. Trammel was ejected from the bike. Hines’ vehicle continued west on the shoulder and stopped in a ditch.
Troopers responded to the highway collision near 138th Avenue Northwest. When they spoke with Hines, according to prosecutors, he said he was driving west and was trying to pass a dirt bike but then went head-on with it. Prosecutors said Hines was incoherent and did not make sense.
Hines was later taken to St. Anthony’s Hospital in Gig Harbor, and a blood draw found his blood-alcohol content was 0.15 about two-and-a-half hours after the wreck. The legal limit in Washington is 0.08. Prosecutors said medical records from the hospital also indicated Hines admitted to taking fentanyl that night.
Trammel was found unresponsive in a bush, and he was declared dead at the scene. A pathologist determined he died of blunt force injuries to the head, neck, torso and extremities. The pathologist noted he was intoxicated but that this was not the cause of his death.
In news out of U.S. District Court
Owner of Pierce County self-storage businesses gets 20 months for tax evasion
A Seattle real estate owner whose businesses included self-storage facilities in DuPont and Lakewood has been sentenced to 20 months in prison for a $4.7 million tax-evasion scheme.
Steven T. Loo, 70, was convicted in a jury trial in summer 2025 of six counts of tax evasion and six counts of filing false tax returns, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Western Washington.
U.S. District Judge Lauren King sentenced Loo on July 16, also imposing a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release following his prison term. The judge also ordered him to pay prosecution expenses of about $5,300.
“Mr. Loo made a sustained, willful decision to evade taxes,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd said in a news release. “The only thing that explains that is greed. A man who amasses $43 million in wealth can afford to pay his taxes - just like the 85% of us who pay our taxes fully and on time.”
Loo owned multiple commercial real estate properties in Western Washington and California. That included DuPont Heated Self Storage in the 3400 block of International Place in DuPont and Safe Self Storage in the 3700 block of 112th Street Southwest in Lakewood, according to court documents. Both are operated through Urban Self Storage.
Prosecutors said Loo hired property management companies that he had send profits to two bank accounts in the name of shell companies he controlled. Loo spent the money for his benefit and for his family and friends, according to prosecutors, and he re-invested funds in various businesses he controlled. But he did not declare the more than $4.7 million in income on his tax returns, and he used shell companies and repeated transfers of funds to conceal the income from the IRS.
At trial, prosecutors presented evidence about the eight properties operated by Loo through various LLCs.
In tax returns completed over 20 years, according to prosecutors, Loo claimed he owed no tax at all and claimed a net refund from the IRS. He has now paid back taxes to the IRS of about $1.6 million.
