Before Jerrmell Warren was sentenced to decades in prison Friday for killing Angelina Palmer with a stray and reckless shot outside a Spanaway gas station, Palmer's brother looked at Warren and offered words of forgiveness.
The brother, Willard Palmer, did not forgive his sister's killer because he deserved it. Warren, 43, had made the terrible and irreversible choice to fire his gun, Willard Palmer said, and as a result had not only taken his sister's life but also shattered generations of family members.
Willard Palmer said he forgave Warren because he had to. The alternative was a lifelong grudge that he said would give Warren power over him.
“I refuse to let hatred chain me to the same darkness that killed her,” Willard Palmer said in court. “You're a bad guy, but you're not a monster.”
Willard Palmer, right, Angelina Palmer's brother, turns to Jerrmell Warren as he gives a victim impact statement at Warren's sentencing Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, at Pierce County Superior Court in Tacoma. Warren was convicted of murder by a jury in August for killing 39-year-old Angelina Palmer outside a Spanaway gas station in May 2022.
Willard Palmer's testimony came during an emotional sentencing hearing, with Palmer's sister, Stacy, telling Warren that Palmer probably would have forgiven him, too — “Because that's who she is,” she said — and Palmer's mother lamenting the intense pain of having to bury a child.
Ultimately, Warren was sentenced to 63 years and seven months in prison for the murder of Palmer on May 26, 2022, and the assault of two other people. As Superior Court Judge Scott Peters put it before imposing that sentence, Warren, a convicted felon prohibited from possessing a firearm, brought a gun during a verbal argument.
Warren had aggressively approached cars at the gas station and convenience store near 174th Street East and Pacific Avenue South and pointed the gun at a driver who sprayed him with bear, court records show. During his trial, in which Warren represented himself, he argued that he was defending himself when he fired his gun multiple times. Jurors rejected that argument and found him guilty on all counts, the most serious of which was first-degree murder.
One of those bullets fatally struck 39-year-old Palmer, who was leaving the supermarket with some groceries. Chaos ensued and a driver ran her over as she fled the scene. Palmer was the mother of nine children. In court, Palmer's own mother, Joanie Palmer, described her daughter as a beautiful person who was loved by her sisters, brothers and children.
“Every time I go to Tacoma I think she's still there,” Joanie Palmer said.
A photo of Angelina Palmer is held by her mother, Joanie Palmer, following Jerrmell Warren's sentencing on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, at Pierce County Superior Court in Tacoma. Warren was convicted of murder by a jury in August for killing 39-year-old Angelina Palmer outside a Spanaway gas station in May 2022.
Peters described Palmer as an innocent bystander. He said he did not believe Warren intended to kill her, but that his intention was to kill the two people for whom he was convicted.
“You opened fire recklessly,” Peters said. “You fired repeatedly and randomly. Yes, there was a verbal altercation that started this. Does it really matter to this court whether that was started by you, or that was started by Ms. Smith, or that was started by Mr. Flansburg? It doesn't.”
Deputy District Attorney Ben Nelson recommended that Warren be sentenced to 60 years in prison, about halfway through the standard sentencing range. Because Warren's convictions for first-degree assault amounted to separate criminal conduct, he must serve consecutive sentences. His convictions also included three firearm sentence enhancements, each of which extended his sentence by five years.
Warren had been to prison at least 18 times before killing Palmer, according to previous reporting by The News Tribune, and had five previous drunken driving convictions. Charging papers for Palmer's murder stated that he drank from a nearly empty liquor bottle before the shooting. He was also sentenced Friday for a new drunk driving conviction for an incident from October 2021. He received five years and six months for that offense, a sentence he will serve concurrently with his sentence for murder and assault.
When it was Warren's turn to speak, his voice began to break as he apologized to Palmer's family. He said he didn't have murder in mind when he reached for his firearm, but he became scared and panicked.
“I deeply apologize, and I know my… I know my words mean nothing,” Warren said.
Jerrmell Warren enters the courtroom for his sentencing on Friday, October 17, 2025 at the Pierce County Superior Court in Tacoma, Washington. Warren was convicted of murder by a jury in August for killing 39-year-old Angelina Palmer outside a Spanaway gas station in May 2022.
After apologizing, Warren began trying to describe what he saw as mitigating circumstances in the shooting, stating that he felt this was a manslaughter case and not murder, and referring to the commission of the crime under duress. Peters eventually interrupted him and urged him to focus on the sentence he was asking for from the court.
Warren went further and eventually demanded a sentence of 18 years and four months.
Outside the courtroom, after Warren's sentence was handed down, Willard Palmer said he didn't think Warren's apology was sincere: “It was more of a show.” He called the 63-year prison sentence “a bit much,” but also said he would have liked to see more remorse from Warren. He thanked Peters for holding him accountable.
“It still won't bring her back, right?” said Willard Palmer.
