EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — An Everett man was sentenced to nearly 29 years in prison for the “savage” stomping murder of an Everett woman.
One week after a jury convicted him, Jamel Alexander’s defense attorneys maintained he would have been acquitted if jurors knew about “crucial evidence” they weren’t allowed to see. Superior Court Judge George Appel disagreed, the Everett Herald reported.
“You took her life in the most demeaning and savage way you could manage,” Appel said Thursday. “The jury did not make a mistake. There is no reasonable doubt. You murdered Shawna Brune.”
At 9 a.m. Oct. 12, 2019, a man walking his dog found Brune’s battered body near a parking lot, according to court documents. Brune was nude. Shoe prints marked her body in a crosshatch pattern. An autopsy showed she suffered broken facial bones and brain swelling.
With the help of other security footage, detectives identified Alexander as the suspect. He told detectives he paid Brune $100 for a sex act that night, but did not harm her.
Alexander was found guilty of first-degree murder.
Defense attorneys argued the jury would not have convicted him had they been shown two pieces of evidence: Brune’s diary, which was found in her purse near the crime scene, and an alleged confession by two people who knew Brune.