EVERETT — Wearing a light pink button-up with his beard peaking out of his surgical mask, an Everett man stood with a microphone pleading to his peers.
After a trial last week in Snohomish County Superior Court, Todd Kingma, 37, wanted to be found not guilty in an October 2021 shooting at a Marysville gas station that sent one man to the hospital.
Kingma conceded he shot a 44-year-old man on Oct. 18, but said he was defending himself and his family.
“Yeah, I shot, you’re damn right. I’m trying to keep that guy down,” Kingma told jurors in his closing statement Tuesday. “… I’m asking you guys to find me not guilty. That’s all I gotta say.”
The jury disagreed with Kingma’s argument after less than two hours of deliberations, finding him guilty of first-degree assault, drive-by shooting and unlawful firearm possession. Kingma was found not guilty on a second count of first-degree assault for shooting at someone else in the same incident.
Around 3:45 a.m. on Oct. 18, the victim was at the self-serve car wash stall on State Avenue when Kingma pulled up in a white truck with his wife in the passenger seat. He got out, introduced himself as “Todd” and started talking about his daughter being assaulted, according to court papers.
Security footage shows the two had a short conversation, according to court documents. Kingma then reached into his truck and grabbed something. The other man goes to his gold Cadillac to get a gun. Moments later, Kingma pulled a handgun out of the pocket of his pants.
“And then all hell breaks loose,” deputy prosecutor Isaac Wells told jurors in his closing statement.
Kingma started shooting, according to the criminal charges against him.
The victim ran away, firing shots back in Kingma’s direction, the surveillance video reportedly shows.
Kingma then drove away. He shot two more times out his car window at the victim, who had put his gun down, according to the charges.
“Mr. Kingma is the aggressor here,” Wells said. The victim was the one acting in self-defense, he argued.
It took police over a week to track the defendant to a south Everett residence, where he was arrested Oct. 27. He remained in the Snohomish County Jail until his trial before Superior Court Judge Jon Scott.
The victim didn’t testify at trial, despite a judge issuing a warrant to compel him to appear.
Kingma has prior convictions for robbery, eluding police and car theft. In March 2017, he called and told his community custody officer, “Catch me if you can,” according to court documents.
When officers caught up to him soon afterward, he reportedly told them: “I’ve been to prison too many times. I can’t stand it there. I’m like a bird that can’t be caged. I will do whatever it takes to try to get away.”
In his closing statement, the defendant told jurors that was the old Todd Kingma.
“I used to be a scumbag,” he said. “I’m not anymore. I’m an ironworker.”
Sentencing is set for July 26.
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.
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