West Valley man who shot Yakima County sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 15 years in prison

Sara Watkins met her husband, Travis, in a hiking class at what is now Yakima Valley College.

Since then, she said, their lives have been filled with outdoor adventures, from a climb up Mount Vesuvius in Italy to hiking to the ancient Inca city of Machu Pichu in Peru.

Closer to home, Watkins said her husband, a Yakima County sheriff’s deputy, would take daily mountain bike rides.

But their lives changed in August 2023 when Travis Watkins was shot multiple times while responding to a domestic violence call in West Valley. His wounds — he lost parts of several fingers in the shooting — and the resulting pain have ended the daily bike rides and other outdoor activities.

John Winston Borgman, 35, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault in Watkins’ shooting, second-degree assault for Deputy Andrew Wilkinson, who was in the line of fire but not injured in the incident, and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

Borgman was initially charged with three counts of first-degree assault, one for each of the deputies and Borgman’s wife, Jennifer, who was also exposed to gunfire.

Deputy Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney Nicholas Barrett said that Jennifer Borgman asked that the charge related to her be dropped, as well as a no-contact order. Barrett said in negotiations, he and defense attorney Ulvar Klein agreed to a sentence, and then worked on the charges and enhancements that would fit it.

Klein said there was no denying that Borgman shot Watkins without justification. While he has found fault with police in the past, Klein said that Watkins acted professionally on the call.

“The police were called because (Borgman) was in a crisis, and instead of this resolving peacefully and quietly, his paranoia took over and he took a gun,” Klein said.

Klein said his only regret was not getting a better sentence, noting that 15 years was a long time for a plea deal where nobody was killed.

Klein said there were risks to going to trial, such as the question of “transferred intent” in justifying the assault conviction where Wilkinson was the victim.

The incident

A 911 operator received a “hang-up” call around 12:25 a.m. Aug. 1, 2023, from a home in the 900 block of South Fork Road, in which a man and woman were heard arguing, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by Yakima police, who investigated the incident at the sheriff’s request.

Dispatchers contacted someone at the house who said Borgman was there and might be assaulting his wife, the affidavit said.

Borgman’s wife and another witness said Borgman was having drug and mental-health issues, and Jennifer Borgman asked the deputies to help her get items from the house so she and her children could leave, the affidavit said.

At 1:15 a.m., the deputies walked her to the house, where she opened the door, and deputies saw Borgman in the front room with the AR-15-style rifle, the affidavit said. Wilkinson’s body camera showed Watkins ordering Borgman to drop the gun, and then both deputies running for cover as a shot was fired, the affidavit said.

Six more shots were heard on the recording as Wilkinson went to his vehicle to get his own rifle, and Watkins yelled out that he had been hit, the affidavit said. Wilkinson put Watkins in his patrol vehicle and drove him to a West Valley fire station for medical attention.

As the deputies were driving to the fire station, they heard Borgman on their radio, and other officers ordered Borgman to walk down and surrender to them, the affidavit said. Officers said Borgman had come out of the house naked and was using the radio in Watkins’ vehicle to communicate with them.

Watkins was taken to Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital with gunshot wounds to his abdomen, left arm and hand, the affidavit said. He lost parts of two fingers in the shooting, and was released from the hospital the next day, the affidavit said.

“It was a call no chief executive wants to get,” Sheriff Bob Udell recalled in a Thursday interview.

He considers the attack on Watkins as an attack on the entire community. He said Borgman waited in ambush for the deputies and followed Watkins as he fired.

“We were amazingly lucky to still have Deputy Travis with us,” Udell said, adding that Watkins is a commissioned deputy currently on medical leave.

Consequences

Sara Watkins, Yakima’s city attorney, said her husband was one of the “luckiest people alive” and that some of that luck rubbed off on Borgman, as he was not shot in the incident. But she said there was a “great discrepancy” in the consequences that Watkins and Borgman experienced from that night.

“When we think about the impact it has had on our lives, the impact on the defendant has been minimal,” Sara Watkins said. “He will be able to continue his daily life without a reminder (of the incident.)”

Angie St. Martin, Watkins’ sister, urged Yakima County Superior Court Judge Jeff Swan to give Borgman a maximum sentence.

Watkins and Wilkinson, along with other deputies, attended the hearing but did not speak.

Regrets

Jennifer Borgman told Swan that the man who shot Watkins was not the one she knows and loves.

“He was consumed by a mental health crisis and his addiction played in a role in what happened,” she said, lamenting that her inability to get Borgman help contributed to the incident.

She said Borgman must be held accountable, and she hopes that he can get help to heal.

Patty Borgman, Borgman’s mother, also apologized for not getting her son help sooner.

“We saw signs, but we didn’t step in,” his mother said. She said her son has been working on improving himself and planned to continue that effort in prison.

Borgman said he planned to read a written statement, but after hearing from Watkins’ family, decided that those words were inadequate.

“I’m so sorry for what I have done. I know these guys just came to the house doing their job,” Borgman said. “I don’t have anything but good will toward anyone in this courtroom, especially the man that I hurt. God, I wish I could take it back.”

Klein stopped Borgman from reading the statement afterward.

“What you have said is perfect,” Klein said.

Swan said he was impressed with Borgman’s sincere words, and he would stick with the agreement, which was four months shy of the top of the sentencing range for first-degree assault.

Swan also told Borgman’s wife and mother that they shared no responsibility for the incident, but that it was Borgman’s responsibility to seek help. He pointed out that the Watkins family and Wilkinson will continue to live with the effects of the incident.

In addition to the prison sentence, which carries a two-year deadly-weapons enhancement, Borgman is also barred from having any contact with Watkins outside a law-enforcement setting for the next 100 years.

Reach Donald W. Meyers at dmeyers@yakimaherald.com.