Judge sentences Seattle Pacific University shooter Aaron Ybarra to 112 years in prison
SEATTLE -- A judge sentenced a man to 112 years in prison for shooting and killing a student and wounding two others in 2014 at Seattle Pacific University.
A King County jury on Nov. 16 found Aaron Ybarra guilty of first-degree murder, three counts of attempted murder and one count of assault for the attack that killed 19-year-old Paul Lee.
Lee's family was in court for the sentencing Friday afternoon. Tears rolled down Paul Lee's father's face as a memorial video of his son played.
Ybarra watched the memorial video and apologized in court.
"Thinking about the incident in 2014 is just a real impact on myself as well. I’ve been thinking about it a lot. It was really hard even now and now I hope I get the help I need to stop the throbbing in my head, I don’t know what it is, I hope it gets healed," said Ybarra.
The trial
Ybarra had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. His attorney had sought at trial to show that Ybarra suffered from a debilitating mental illness and limited intellectual function and that he believed God was directing him to shoot.
Prosecutors argued that the shooting was premeditated, that Ybarra knew what he did was wrong and that he didn't mention God leading him until months after the shootings.
Charging papers said Ybarra scouted the campus before he returned on June 5, 2014, with the intent of committing a mass shooting he did not expect to survive.