Former NBA Seattle SuperSonics star Shawn Kemp pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree assault for shooting at an occupied car outside the Tacoma Mall after he’d tracked his stolen cell phone to the parking lot.
The guilty plea came just as his trial was expected to begin Tuesday with jury selection.
Kemp, 55, was initially charged with first-degree assault for the March 8, 2023 shooting. Last week prosecutors brought an additional first-degree assault charge against him and a charge of drive-by shooting, according to the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
When prosecutors first brought criminal charges against Kemp, they weren’t aware that there were two people in the Toyota 4Runner that Kemp had fired upon. Police said neither of the two men in the vehicle were hurt.
Kemp had tracked his iPhone to the car he shot at after his car was broken into the night before in Seattle, according to court records.
His defense attorneys contended in a trial memorandum that when he approached the vehicle one of the occupants shot at him, and Kemp returned fire in self defense. Prosecutors had disputed that, saying video evidence didn’t back up Kemp’s account of what happened.
A defense attorney for Kemp did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment.
A sentencing hearing was set for Aug. 22.
The News Tribune
Peter Talbot is a criminal justice reporter for The News Tribune. He started with the newspaper in 2021. Before that, he earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism at Indiana University. In college, he worked as an intern at NPR in Washington, D.C. He also interned for the Oregonian and the Tampa Bay Times. Support my work with a digital subscription