TACOMA, Wash. — As he was sentenced in the vehicular homicide death of Mark Nigh, Jason Tamayo faced a barrage of angry words from Nigh's family members.
"I feel you're a coward, you're a coward as a man," said Nigh's son, James.
Nigh's mother, who didn't give her name said, "You put drugs in your system and decided to drive, turning your vehicle into a deadly weapon."
Tamayo, 45, admitted being high on methamphetamines when he drove his car along a downtown Tacoma street last May, hitting the 56-year-old Nigh and pinning him to the back of his work truck, severing his legs. Nigh died two days later.
Nigh's son James told the court his father died right after the two had an argument they never had the chance to settle.
"Now he's gone and I can't say sorry, he can't say sorry," said Nigh.
Tamayo's attorney told the court his client was remorseful, even keeping a picture of Nigh in his cell at the Pierce County jail, praying with it for forgiveness. Tamayo wept through much of the proceeding, telling Judge G. Helen Whitener he feels constant guilt, and that Nigh's screams after he hit him, and his death, still haunts him.
"I can never ask for this guilt to leave me because it's in me forever," said Tamayo.
As part of a plea deal, Pierce County prosecutors had suggested a standard range sentence of just over seven years. But Whitener imposed a longer sentence of 8 1/2 years saying Tamayo deserved more prison time.
"This is a case where the maximum is appropriate," said Whitener.
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