Shoreline, Wash. — Doreen Starrish, the Shoreline woman who stabbed her long-time boyfriend to death, apologized on Friday before she was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
“I’ve been waiting 21 months to tell Aaron’s family, and my family, that I’m sorry,” the 28-year old Starrish said in King County Superior Court. Starrish claimed she never meant to kill 27-year old Aaron Smith in May 2012 when she stabbed him in the chest at the couple's Shoreline home, then ran with their two young daughters sparking an Amber Alert.
Senior King County Deputy Prosecutor Carla Carlstrom asked the judge for an 18-year sentence, citing Starrish's violent temper. “She has a history of losing control, getting extremely angry and acting out,” Carlstrom said. “In this case, she got a knife and she stabbed somebody.” But Starrish’s defense attorney, Robert Perez of Perez and Perez Law LLC, claimed his client was acting in self-defense. When Smith was killed, there was a standing order of protection to keep him away from Starrish because of an alleged assault, even though the two were apparently still living in the same home.
In court Friday, Perez asked the judge for an exceptional sentence because of multiple claims of abuse. He also reminded the judge of testimony from a witness during the trial late last year who "reported seeing Aaron Smith dragging Doreen by her hair through the streets, in front of his house." Perez claimed, because of years of abuse, Starrish should only spend seven years behind bars.
However, those arguments did not convince jury members to acquit Starrish. She was convicted of second-degree murder on Dec. 6, 2013.
On Friday, Judge Yu sentenced Starrish to 14 years, calling the couple's relationship one of the most dysfunctional she had ever seen, because of the violence they used against each other.
Smith and Starrish's young daughters will most likely be young adults by the time their mother is released, however Starrish will appeal her sentence. In court, Starrish talked about how much she misses her daughters Alice and Helen Smith, who are now 9 and 5 years old. "I know Aaron's family misses him. I know my kids miss him, and there's nothing I can do to bring him back. I wish I could," she said.
KIRO
