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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Case goes to jury in deadly 2014 university shooting

King County Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kristin Richardson presents closing arguments in a trial of accused Seattle Pacific University gunman Aaron Ybarra before the jury and King County Superior Court Judge Jim Rogers in Seattle on Monday. (Ellen M. Banner / Associated Press)
Associated Press

SEATTLE – The trial of a man charged with killing a student and wounding two others before being tackled by another student at a small private Seattle university in 2014 went to the jury for deliberations Monday after closing arguments.

Aaron Ybarra, 29, is charged with premeditated first-degree murder and other charges for a shooting rampage at Seattle Pacific University that killed freshman Paul Lee, 19, of Portland. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

During closing arguments, King County Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kristin Richardson said Ybarra never mentioned God, Satan or Lucifer directing him to carry out the rampage until months after the shootings, KING-TV in Seattle reported.

Richardson also said Ybarra knew what he did was morally wrong, noting that Ybarra told detectives after his arrest that his parents would be devastated by what he had done.

Ybarra’s defense attorney, Ramona Brandes, countered Monday that Ybarra suffers from a debilitating mental illness and limited intellectual function and that he believed God was directing him to do it.

Brandes said in opening statements last month that it’s not a question of whether he planned the shootings because it’s clear that he did. She said jurors need to determine whether Ybarra’s mental illness so impaired his cognitive function at the time that was unable to determine right from wrong.

The trial opened Oct. 10 and has included testimony from Ybarra as well as student and safety monitor Jon Meis, who was hailed as a hero for taking down the gunman during the June 5, 2014, shooting.

Meis testified during the trial that he waited to hear the shooter reload his shotgun, took pepper spray out of his backpack and sprayed the gunman in the face twice, KING-TV in Seattle reported.

Surveillance video showed Meis wrestling the shotgun away, stashing it in an office and returning to tackle Ybarra again as Ybarra struggles to pull out a knife.

Jurors also took a short field trip to the campus hall where the shooting occurred.