Victim's family speaks out against reduced penalties for drive-by shooters

The brother of a drive-by shooting victim that was senselessly murdered in 1997 is speaking out after Democratic legislators in Washington state introduced a new Bill that would lessen sentences for drive-by shooting murderers.

Kimonti Carter, who is serving a life-sentence without parole at the Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Aberdeen, Washington, was found guilty of murdering Corey Pittman in a drive-by shooting on Tacoma's Hilltop in '97. Sentences like Carter's would be reduced under the new bill to "promote racial equity."

Corey Pittman, a 19-year-old student studying political science at Alabama State University, was home on summer break when Carter took a MAK-90 assault rifle and fired at least 19 rounds into a vehicle that Pittman was in with his friends, according to journalist Brandi Kruse, host of the (un)Divided podcast.

A bullet fired by Carter struck Pittman, killing the innocent teenager in cold blood.

According to court documents, Kimonti Carter, a member of the "Bloods" gang, left a known drug house with other gang members on the intent of "doing a jack." Carter then proceeded to take out his MAK-90 assault rife and fired into a vehicle that he believed was full of rival gang members, Kruse reports.

Instead, the vehicle was full of innocent teenagers with their entire lives ahead of them.

Now, Washington state representative Tarra Simmons, a convicted felon and former addict, is using Kimonti Carter's life-sentence ruling as leverage to change state law.

According to representative Simmons, the bill would lessen penalties for drive-by shooting murderers to "promote racial equity" in the criminal justice system. However, the state has been ranked among the worst in the nation for drive-by shootings and crime rates are at an all-time high.

House Bill 1692, sponsored by Democratic representatives Simmons and Hackney, was introduced to allegedly "...promote racial equity in the criminal legal system by eliminating drive-by shooting as a basis for elevating murder in the first degree to aggravated murder in the first degree."

But Corey Pittman's younger brother, Damian Pittman, says he doesn't understand the logic behind the Democrats' Bill.

"My main concern is I don't understand the logic of it. It seems like this is more about getting Kimonti Carter out of jail than it is about racial equity. If this is about racial equity then what science or data is representative Simmons using to show that this law has been used unequally across racial lines," Damian Pittman told 570 KVI's Ari Hoffman.

"Because as far as I know, according to Rep. Simmons, the only time aggravated murder has been used in a drive-by case to get someone life in prison was on my brother's case," Pittman continued, noting that both his brother and Carter are black. "So if that's the only time it's been used then how is that being applied unequally against racial lines?"

When asked by Hoffman if Representative Simmons has reached out to the family in regards to essentially letting his brother's murderer roam free if HB 1692 were to pass, Pittman said the legislators never made contact.

"It's easy to look at someone that's in prison, because they're still alive, and see that they're 'changing their life around' but it's also easy to forget the victims, because the victim is gone and you don't get to hear them every day," Pittman explained.

"But they're just not a nameless victim. My brother was Corey Pittman and he was murdered. We all change but we also all didn't have the idea to go out with a MAK-90 assault rifle and murder people either," he continued. "So there's a big difference in saying that he should be resolved of his crimes because he has changed when the victim doesn't get the chance to live."

Under Washington state law, the reason why those who commit murder by way of drive-by shootings get sentenced to life in prison is because it is considered to be a premeditated act. Because of this, Pittman says that the current law should remain as written.

"There's a level of premeditation when it comes to drive-by's. The heinousness of a drive-by warrants aggravated circumstances which warrants a life sentence," Pittman said.

HB 1692 was introduced just ahead of the 2022 legislative session and will soon be up for a vote.