Roommate gets 30 years in prison for killing mother of two

A roommate of a mother of two will spend 30 years in prison for shooting and killing her in 2021.

A judge sentenced 45-year-old Jason Woodlief on Tuesday for the killing of Lisa Shimek while her children were in the house with her.

Shimek and her boyfriend lived on the main level of a townhouse in Spokane Valley they shared with Woodlief, who stayed in the basement bedroom.

The three went to watch a boxing match at another house that night, and Woodlief began drinking heavily, court records say. Shimek, her boyfriend and two children came home around 2 a.m. when two men arrived to say Woodlief had drunkenly smashed up their car.

Woodlief, who later got home and entered the house, could be heard arguing with Shimek on a Ring camera. Six gunshots then went off from inside the home.

When deputies arrived, they found Shimek with two gunshots to her head. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Her children were found hiding in a bedroom.

Court records show Woodlief then asked a deputy, “Dumb question, but can you just put a bullet in my head, please?” and, “I messed up pretty bad, didn’t I?”

Shimek grew up in both Ritzville and Spokane, according to her obituary. She graduated from Shadle Park High School, found a career in banking and later had a son and a daughter “whom she loved deeply.”

Shimek was described as fiercely loyal and loved by many.