Auburn cop convicted of 2019 murder to be sentenced in August

Jeffrey Nelson sentencing pushed to Aug. 13

Auburn officer Jeffrey Nelson was found guilty of second-degree murder and first-degree assault on June 27, and was originally scheduled to be sentenced in July. The defense's motion for continuance was granted, meaning they were given some extra weeks to prepare for the sentencing hearing.

AUBURN, Wash. - Sentencing in the trial of an Auburn Police officer convicted of shooting and killing a man in 2019 has been delayed until Aug. 13.

The King County Superior Court says on the new sentencing date of Aug. 13, the defense will argue for a new trial. Officials say if their motion for a new trial is not granted, Nelson will be sentenced that day.

Seattle interim Police Chief reacts to Auburn officer guilty verdict

Interim Seattle Police Chief Sue Rahr is calling the guilty verdict in an Auburn officer's murder trial an opportunity for a wake-up call.

Auburn Police officer Nelson shot 26-year-old Jesse Sarey twice while attempting to arrest him for disorderly conduct in 2019. Sarey was the third person Nelson had killed on duty in the past eight years. Nelson's attorney, Emma Scanlan, told jurors during her opening statement that he believed, mistakenly, that Sarey had grabbed a folding knife from the officer's pocket. Instead, the knife had fallen on the ground and been picked up by a witness.

The defense said that every day for the last five years, Nelson had wished that he knew the knife was not in play as he grappled with Sarey.

The case is the second to go to trial since Washington voters in 2018 made it easier to charge police by removing a standard that required prosecutors to prove they acted with malice; now, prosecutors must show that the level of force was unreasonable or unnecessary.

In December, jurors acquitted three Tacoma police officers in the 2020 death of Manuel Ellis.

Sarey, who was homeless and had struggled with his mental health and substance use, had reportedly been throwing things at cars and creating a disturbance, though not threatening anyone, on May 31, 2019, when Nelson responded.