TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A teenager convicted of two murders and a robbery has been sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Robbrie Thompson,19, received the sentence Friday in Pierce County Superior Court in western Washington.
Thompson, 16 at the time of the killings, was convicted of the April 2019 killing of 79-year-old Soon Ja Nam, who owned and operated the Handy Corner Store in Puyallup with her husband.
Thompson was also convicted of killing 16-year-old Franklin Thuo several days after the robbery. Authorities say Thuo took part in the robbery, and Thompson was afraid he would talk about the robbery and the killing of Nam.
Thompson, during the sentencing hearing, denied killing anyone.
But Pierce County deputy prosecutor Brian Wasankari cited evidence that said otherwise.
“This is someone who planned crimes over the course of days, deliberated about them with a confidant, considered alternate courses of action and chose those that resulted in the deaths of two people, an elderly shopkeeper who posed no physical threat, and a 16-year-old boy who wound up face down on the beach,” Wasankari said in court.
Defense attorney Paula Olsen, in seeking a sentence of 25 years, said Thompson had an abusive upbringing and has had difficulties with mental health.
