On a tragic autumn evening in Port Orchard, Washington, the life of 20-year-old Ashlee-Jo McClelland was cut short. On November 4, 2018, McClelland sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the chest while inside her apartment on Sidney Avenue. The young woman, a graduate of North Kitsap High School and a dietary aide at St. Anthony's Hospital, was a mother to a young daughter.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, McClelland was driven to a local Harrison Urgent Care facility.
The erratic driving of the vehicle caught the attention of a nearby Port Orchard police officer who was conducting traffic control. The officer followed the car into the urgent care parking lot and discovered the critically injured McClelland. Emergency medical services were immediately rendered, and she was transported to Tacoma General Hospital, where she ultimately succumbed to her injury that evening.
The subsequent investigation into her death, classified as a homicide by the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office, was undertaken by the Kitsap Critical Incident Response Team. The investigation quickly focused on her 22-year-old boyfriend, Joseph Anthony Armas. It was determined that Armas and McClelland were in a dating relationship and that the shooting occurred inside her apartment.
Two days after McClelland's death, on November 6, Joseph Anthony Armas was taken into custody in Nisqually, Thurston County. He was booked into the Kitsap County Jail on charges of first-degree manslaughter and unlawful possession of a firearm, as a prior court order prohibited him from possessing any firearms. Armas later admitted to investigators that he had accidentally shot McClelland while he was unloading a stolen rifle. In July 2019, after reaching a plea bargain agreement, Armas was sentenced to 90 months in prison for his role in her death.
