A man imprisoned for nearly 30 years for a Spokane murder could be released early

Thirty years ago, Travis Comeslast shot a 20-year-old man in the head and robbed his wife in front of the couple’s young daughter in north Spokane.

Now, the 50-year-old convicted killer, who is almost 30 years into a 46-year prison sentence, could have the rest of his sentence reduced or eliminated.

The Washington State Clemency and Pardons Board voted 3-1 Thursday to recommend clemency for Comeslast. Gov. Bob Ferguson will consider the recommendation.

“I do believe Mr. Comeslast has shown remarkable change from the person he was when he committed his crime,” said board member Rhonda Salvesen. “He has taken responsibility without excuses, shown remorse and has atoned by sharing his experience and uplifting and healing his community and many others who are around him. I also do believe Mr. Comeslast’s sentence no longer serves the interest of justice.”

Witnesses testified during the murder trial that Comeslast and a friend, Irvin Fentroy, went in June 1996 to Chris Gongyin’s home on North Regal Street near Ermina Avenue, according to previous Spokesman-Review reporting.

During the visit, Comeslast and Gongyin discussed the sale of a 9 mm gun, but the pair quarreled over the price, according to Fentroy’s testimony.

Fentroy testified that Gongyin ran to his bedroom, claiming he would get his own gun. Comeslast ran after him and fired once, hitting Gongyin in the back of the head.

The bullet burned the child’s leg as well, according to a Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office news release last week.

Comeslast then pointed the gun at Gongyin’s wife, Barbara, who had been sleeping in the bedroom with her 13-month-old daughter, and demanded she hand over money and drugs, the newspaper reported.

A jury convicted Comeslast of first-degree murder and first-degree robbery in September 1997. Comeslast was sentenced to 51 years in prison.

Two weeks before the killing of Chris Gongyin, Comeslast’s younger brother, Kenneth Comeslast, was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for the 1995 shooting deaths of two teenage girls in north Spokane. Convicted of murdering Cindy Buffin and Kendra Grantham, Kenneth “Junior” Comeslast was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

During Travis Comeslast’s sentencing, the court also considered Comeslast’s criminal record, which included multiple prior convictions as an adult and a child, the prosecuting attorney’s office release said. Comeslast was 20 at the time of the murder. Comeslast later appealed his sentence, which was reduced by five years.

Comeslast previously petitioned the Clemency and Pardons Board and was denied. He applied again, and the board held a commutation hearing in December when Comeslast testified why he should be released.

Spokane County Prosecutor Preston McCollam, as well as Gongyin’s wife, her daughter and a family friend, advocated against an early release for Comeslast.

The release stated Barbara Gongyin referenced a comment from a previous clemency hearing that each time a felon applies for clemency or pardon, it’s like ripping the Band-Aid off a wound for the victims.

“This is most certainly the case with Travis Comeslast with each attempt to seek freedom,” she said. “As we prepared for this moment in 2020 and 2021 and again throughout this last year, we have been subjected to the distress of reliving moments from 1996 as well as the lengthy process of a trial, sentencing, and appeals over the years. It is unfair, painful, and disappointing that it has become my responsibility to plead that a just sentence be maintained.”

Clemency and Pardons Vice Chairman Doug Baldwin Jr., a former Seattle Seahawks wide receiver, was one of the three members who recommended Comeslast’s sentence be commuted.

“I do believe that he has demonstrated a worthy rehabilitation process as well as sincere remorse,” Baldwin said. “While I was obviously personally moved by the testimony on the side of the victim’s family, I do recognize that nothing we do here today can reconcile their pain and loss, and so I do not believe that Mr. Comeslast’s remaining incarceration continues to serve the ends of justice.”

Board member Aline Flower recognized the Gongyin family’s pain and anguish they expressed during December’s hearing.

“Mr. Comeslast committed a horrible act by taking Chris Gongyin’s life,” Flower said. “Mrs. Gongyin, the terror you must have felt for your own life and the life of your infant daughter in your arms that night, it’s unimaginable.”

She also said she recognized Comeslast’s “deep shame and guilt” for taking a life.

“You’ve expressed deep remorse for the pain, loss and harm that you caused his family that night, for leaving Mr. Gongyin’s wife without her young husband, his infant daughter without her father,” Flower said. “You take full responsibility for the crime you committed as a young man and for the impact your crime has had on his family and on the whole community.”

She also noted new medical findings of incomplete brain development of young adults that has led to changes in law about punishing people who commit crimes at a young age.

“You never benefited from those changes in the law,” Flower said.

She said Comeslast has not had a serious infraction in prison during his time in prison, and the Washington State Department of Corrections classified him as “low risk.”

“You have demonstrated yourself to have grown into a changed man,” Flower said.

She said he grew into a teacher and leader in prison programs and classes.

“The only remaining justification for your continued incarceration then is retribution,” Flower said. “And I find that keeping Mr. Comeslast incarcerated for the sole purpose of retribution is not in the interest of justice.”

McCollam said Comeslast’s sentence “continues to serve justice, and his crime is not alleviated by his age at the time of commission,” according to the release.

McCollam said Comeslast taking advantage of prison programs and education is laudable, but that society should expect nothing less from anyone who has committed such crimes.

“While Mr. Comeslast is entitled to make this request, I submit to you that it comes at a cost and a price to the crime victims who survived his actions,” McCollam said. “They must continually undergo the trauma and emotional turmoil as they watch this process unfold. Unlike Mr. Comeslast, they in fact received a life sentence.”