The King County Superior Court sentenced a 59-year-old man on March 22 for the death of a 33-year-old man after he struck him in the head with a rock he threw in September 2022 in Federal Way.
Judi Kilma, 59, accepted a plea deal on Feb. 26, 2024, pleading guilty to a charge of manslaughter in the first degree for the death of Joseph Lee Simmons, 33. King County prosecutors initially charged Kilma with murder in the second degree.
The King County Superior Court sentenced Kilma to eight and a half years in prison, in addition to three years of community custody following his term of confinement for the manslaughter charge.
According to prosecutorial documents, on Sept. 19, 2022, Kilma retrieved a fist-sized rock after Simmons punctured one of the tires on Kilma’s bicycle. He threw the rock at Simmons, striking him on the left side of the head.
The Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority and Kent Police Department responded to a gas station convenience store in the 2700 block of Military Road South in Federal Way at approximately 8:11 p.m. and discovered Simmons lying unconscious in the parking lot, bleeding from a laceration to his head.
An ambulance transported Simmons to Harborview Medical Center where doctors performed an emergency surgery to treat a traumatic brain injury.
Simmons died four days following the incident at Harborview Medical Center on Sept. 23, 2022, as a result of his injuries, including an epidural hematoma, head laceration and skull fracture.
Investigation of the incident identified Kilma, and on Oct. 1, a Kent police officer located Kilma in the City of Kent and arrested him without incident.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, Kilma admitted to police he threw the rock at Simmons because he was angry at him for cutting his bicycle tire, but did not intend to kill him.
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