Before Jerrmell Warren was sentenced to decades in prison Friday for murdering Angelina Palmer with a stray and reckless gunshot outside a Spanaway gas station, Palmer’s brother looked at Warren and offered words of forgiveness.
The brother, Willard Palmer, wasn’t forgiving his sister’s killer because he deserved it. Warren, 43, had made a horrible and irreversible choice to fire his gun, Willard Palmer said, and as a result had not only taken his sister’s life but shattered generations of family members.
Willard Palmer said he was forgiving Warren because he had to. The alternative was a lifetime grudge that he said would give Warren power over him.
“I refuse to let hate chain me to the same darkness that killed her,” Willard Palmer said in court. “You’re a villain, but you’re not a monster.”
Willard Palmer, right, the brother of Angelina Palmer, turns to face Jerrmell Warren as he gives a victim impact statement at the Warren’s sentencing on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, at Pierce County Superior Court in Tacoma. Warren was convicted by a jury in August of felony murder 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 that included 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.
In the end, Warren was sentenced to 63 years, seven months in prison for the May 26, 2022 murder of Palmer and the assault of two other people. As Superior Court Judge Scott Peters put it before imposing that punishment, Warren, a convicted felon who was not allowed to possess a firearm, brought a gun to a verbal argument.
Warren had been aggressively approaching cars at the gas station and convenience store near 174th Street East and Pacific Avenue South and pulled the gun on a driver who bear-sprayed him, according to court records. 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, finding him guilty on all counts, the most serious of which was felony second-degree murder.
One of those bullets fatally struck Palmer, 39, who was leaving the convenience store with some groceries. Chaos ensued, and a driver ran her over while fleeing the scene. Palmer was a mother to 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’m thinking she’s still here,” Joanie Palmer said.
A photo of Angelina Palmer is held by her mother, Joanie Palmer, after the sentencing of Jerrmell Warren on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, at Pierce County Superior Court in Tacoma. Warren was convicted by a jury in August of felony murder 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 didn’t believe Warren intended to kill her, but that his intention was to kill the two people he was convicted of assaulting.
“You opened fire recklessly,” Peters said. “You fired repetitively and indiscriminately. Yes, there was some verbal altercation that started this. Does it really matter to this court, whether that was started by you, whether that was started by Ms. Smith, whether it was started by Mr. Flansburg? It does not.”
Deputy prosecuting attorney Ben Nelson recommended that Warren be sentenced to 60 years in prison, near the middle of the standard sentencing range. Because Warren’s first-degree assault convictions constituted separate criminal conduct, he has to serve consecutive sentences. His convictions also included three firearm-sentencing enhancements that each lengthened his punishment by five years.
Warren had been jailed at least 18 times before he killed Palmer, according to previous reporting from The News Tribune, and he had five prior DUI convictions. Charging papers in Palmer’s murder said he was seen drinking from a nearly empty liquor bottle before the shooting. He was also sentenced Friday for another felony DUI conviction for an incident from October 2021. He got five years, six months for that offense, a punishment he’ll serve concurrently with his murder and assault sentences.
When it was Warren’s turn to speak, his voice began to break while he apologized to Palmer’s family. He said he didn’t have murder on his mind when he grabbed his firearm, but he got scared and panicked.
“I deeply apologize, and I know my … I know my words don’t mean nothing,” Warren said.
Jerrmell Warren enters the courtroom for his sentencing on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, at Pierce County Superior Court in Tacoma, Wash. Warren was convicted by a jury in August of felony murder for killing 39-year-old Angelina Palmer outside a Spanaway gas station in May 2022.
After apologizing, Warren began to try to describe what he saw as mitigating circumstances in the shooting, stating that he felt this was a manslaughter case and not murder and referred to committing the crime under duress. Peters eventually cut him off, urging him to focus on what sentence he was asking for from the court.
Warren went on, and he eventually requested a punishment of 18 years, four months.
Outside the courtroom after Warren’s sentence was handed down, Willard Palmer said he didn’t find Warren’s apology to be genuine — “It was more of a show.” He called the 63-year sentence “a bit much” but also said he would have liked to have seen more remorse from Warren. He thanked Peters for holding him accountable.
“It still doesn’t bring her back, right?” Willard Palmer said.
