Man tackled, shocked with stun gun after Pierce County jury finds him guilty of murder

TACOMA, Wash. — The defendant in a Pierce County murder trial was tackled and shocked with a stun gun by sheriff’s deputies Monday afternoon when he threw an object toward prosecutors as the judge polled jurors to confirm the man’s guilty verdict.

Andrew Pointer, 38, was convicted by a jury in Superior Court of first-degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm in the Aug. 4, 2019, fatal shooting of 38-year-old Lawrence Jeffries.

Pointer’s sentencing date was set for April 4. The standard sentencing range for such cases is 39 years, 3 months to 50 years, 8 months in prison. The defendant has 12 prior felony convictions, including third-degree rape, second-degree assault and bail jumping.

Judge James Orlando was polling the jury for confirmation of the verdict and had just made it to the back row of jurors when Pointer grabbed something from the desk in front of him and hurled it toward the prosecutors’ table. Deputy prosecutor Thomas Howe later said he didn’t know what Pointer threw, that he just saw it fly past his head.

“Get down, get down!” a Pierce County Sheriff’s Department deputy said as multiple others tackled Pointer. “You’re going to get tased,” one deputy told him while they tried to get him under control.

The stun gun buzzed. Then again after a second warning.

“I don’t give a [expletive] about no Taser,” Pointer said. “That [expletive] don’t hurt.”

At least eight deputies helped to detain the man. He was taken from the room in a spit hood.

The jury was escorted out of the courtroom, and Orlando completed polling. He said he apologized to the jurors for having to witness the “disruption.”

During the five-week trial, Pointer argued he shot Jeffries out of self defense. But prosecutors said the shooting stemmed from a “long-time disagreement” over how Pointer should treat his girlfriend, whom Jeffries used to date and had a 16-year-old daughter with, according to charging documents.

Pointer and Jeffries fought after the defendant got into an argument with his girlfriend at a Lake Tapps gathering. Pointer lost his fight with Jeffries. Prosecutors said Pointer was “beat down.”

Early the next morning, the woman’s daughter called to say Pointer was at their home and wanted to speak with her. Pointer allegedly told his girlfriend to come home and bring Jeffries, promising he only wanted to talk.

When they arrived, Pointer was dressed all in black and was holding a hand behind his back. Witnesses said the men argued briefly before Pointer shot Jeffries twice and fled in a car.

The woman ducked when gunshots rang out and later told police Pointer had previously told her “if he ever had to kill anyone for her that he would kill her, too,” records show.

On Monday, the jury found Pointer not guilty of attempted murder related to his girlfriend.

Pointer had a different account of the shooting. In a memorandum, the defense said Pointer was moving his belongings out of the residence he shared with his girlfriend. He apparently left the residence, but then returned for a forgotten wallet and arrived at the same time as Jeffries and others.

“Mr. Pointer heard someone yell, ‘He’s in the back’, and Mr. Pointer turned in time to see an individual at the front of the residence cock a gun, and Mr. Jeffries approach him in an apparent attempt to pistol whip him,” the memo reads.

A scuffle ensued, and the defense said Pointer got control of Jeffries’ firearm and fired one shot, killing him.

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