Tacoma man mistook mother for intruder when he shot her to death; won't be charged

TACOMA, Wash. – Pierce County prosecutor Mark Lindquist decided not to press charges against a man who shot and killed his mother Sunday in Tacoma.

Lindquist said the 28-year-old man thought his 63-year-old mother, Rhonda Randle, was an intruder.

Lindquist called it “a horrible accident.”

“There is a time for accountability and a time for compassion,” Lindquist said in a press release. “…Criminal charges would not serve any constructive purpose for the community.”

The man told police he heard someone on his porch on E. N St. and thought he was being robbed, so he opened fire. When he discovered it was his mother, he called 911.