Woman who set fire that devastated downtown Sumner was failed by the system, judge says

TACOMA – A 24-year-old woman with diagnosed mental health disorders who started a disastrous fire in downtown Sumner, destroying a century-old building and forcing local businesses to close, was failed by the system, the judge who sentenced her Friday said.

Pierce County Superior Court Judge Joseph Evans sentenced Alyssa Rae Leach to 32 months in prison for the Oct. 28, 2022, fire after Leach pleaded guilty last week to first-degree arson. She received credit for the time she’s already served in jail, 435 days, so Leach still has a little more than half of her sentence to complete.

The fire was a tragedy on multiple fronts, Evans said in court. Businesses were burned, their owners’ livelihoods wrecked and a community “devastated” by the fire. But the judge laid much of the blame on Washington state and its Department of Social and Health Services, which he said had repeatedly failed to provide adequate mental health services to people in need.

“We’re dealing with an individual who is diagnosed with schizophrenia, dealing with an individual who clearly should have been receiving mental health services in the community, and she was not given proper access to that,” Evans said.

Leach admitted she contributed to the situation by using drugs before starting the fire, Evans said. The judge said that was unfortunately not uncommon of people with serious mental health issues. What they were left with, Evans said, was a situation where someone who had devastated others’ livelihoods was simultaneously failed by her community and the systems meant to deal with mental health issues.

The fire started in the early morning behind a two-story brick building that formerly occupied 1003-1005 Main Street. According to court documents, Leach lit cardboard boxes on fire in an alcove near a dumpster and gas meters behind the building, which was built in 1911. The resulting blaze drew dozens of East Pierce Fire & Rescue firefighters.

By the time it was extinguished, three businesses housed there and several offices were totaled, and at least eight other businesses from 909 to 1101 Main Street. were forced to close due to smoke and water damage. The building where it started was later demolished, leaving a glaring hole where it had stood for 111 years. The state Department of Commerce eventually distributed $600,000 to affected businesses, according to Sumner city officials. Some businesses have reopened but others haven’t.

Sumner Mayor Kathy Hayden addressed the court during the hearing, telling Evans that her community had lost multiple businesses – some of which had been open for decades – because of one woman’s actions. Hayden, who owned a barbershop in Sumner where she cut hair for 43 years until 2017, said owning a business isn’t easy, but it’s worth it for the people you get to serve. She said the affected business owners had contributed greatly to Sumner.

“The owners suffered financially, more importantly they suffered emotionally,” Hayden said. “They lost their merchandise, they lost their records, they lost their dream. They had no choice in this matter. The defendant did.”

Leach’s attorney from the Department of Assigned Counsel, Eric Trujillo, opposed Hayden being allowed to address the court. Sumner officials said the city administrator, Jason Wilson, had also planned to speak.

Trujillo said none of the buildings affected were for government offices – though an office for State Rep. Drew Stokesbary was housed in the razed building. He said there was a persistent problem of people in the Tacoma metropolitan area committing minor offenses who, like Leach, were living without housing when they occurred.

The defense attorney said the court can only address cases like this after they occur.

“The mayor has the power to fix problems like this,” Trujillo said.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kelly Montgomery cut in, telling Trujillo the hearing was about sentencing Leach for her actions, not the City of Sumner dealing with the issue of homelessness.

After court adjourned, Hayden told the News Tribune she would have preferred Evans to have imposed the longest sentence he could. Prosecutors had recommended Leach be sentenced to three years in prison, beyond the standard range of 21 to 27 months for defendants in similar cases.

Evans was able to give Leach a sentence longer than that range, but shorter than what prosecutors had recommended because the arson charge she pleaded guilty to included an aggravating circumstance of being a major economic offense. According to court records, the maximum term of confinement in first-degree arson cases is life in prison.

Asked what she thought of Trujillo’s statement regarding local homelessness issues and Evans laying the blame on the state not providing adequate mental health services, Hayden had little to say other than it is a huge issue.

“There needs to be something done,” the mayor said.

Carmen Palmer, a spokesperson for the City of Sumner, said city leaders were pleased that Leach had taken responsibility for the fire, and she hoped that brought some closure to the businesses affected, but that the case also exemplified the need for mental health solutions in all communities.

Leach, who has no prior criminal convictions, according to court records, was found mentally competent to understand the nature of the charges against her and assist in her own defense after three psychological evaluations and two 90-day terms of inpatient treatment at Western State Hospital. Court records state she has been referred to municipal courts in Puyallup and Sumner eight times.

She was ordered to begin that treatment in December 2022, but delays due to a lack of bed space, records state, meant she wasn’t admitted until May the next year. The court held DSHS in contempt of court for a little more than a month before her admittance, ordering the government agency to be sanctioned $94.25 per day until Leach could get treatment. Records state the money was to be paid to the registry of the court.

Psychological evaluations diagnosed Leach with unspecified schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorder, as well as a stimulant-use disorder and an opioid-use disorder. Records state she has a history of treatment for her mental health and substance use dating to March 2020. Before she was arrested in this case, Leach was admitted to a hospital as recently as August 2022 when records state she was treated for restlessness, agitation, unspecified psychosis and schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type.

Leach spoke candidly when she addressed the court, telling Judge Evans that her actions were the result of her drug use.

“I just wanted to say sorry for the damage, and I was on drugs,” Leach said. “It’s not like anyone who’s sober would do something like that.”

Autumn Gildon, whose family owns the property where the fire started, told the News Tribune in a brief phone call Friday that she thought Leach needed to pay for her crime but that she hoped the woman would get the help she needs once she was released. Gildon is married to state Sen. Chris Gildon, and she managed the Attic, a venue that hosted weddings, birthday parties and other events for more than 30 years in the building that burned. She said she was just thankful no one was hurt.

“We’ve just moved on,” Gildon said. “We’re trying to rebuild and continue doing what we’ve been doing all this time.”

The last year had been a challenge for her family, she said, but they have plans to rebuild in the same location. Gildon said they recently submitted plans to the city for a three-story building, and she’s hopeful that construction could begin by the end of the year.

She said her family, which also owns the venue the Hansen Place, wasn’t likely to put another venue in the new building, but that the bottom floor would probably be a retail space. The family envisions housing more businesses and offices in the upper floors.

“We’re looking forward to making the downtown whole again,” Gildon said.