A Tacoma man will spend just over a decade in prison after admitting he gunned down a 47-year-old outside a South End motel on Pacific Avenue.
Roberto Juan Salas, 39, was sentenced to 10 years and three months in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting death of Keith Sweeney. The deadly confrontation unfolded outside a room at the Pacific Lodge on Pacific Avenue on June 27, 2025. The sentence was imposed in Pierce County Superior Court this past March.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Timothy Ashcraft handed down the sentence on March 19, opting for a punishment at the low end of the standard sentencing range, according to The News Tribune. Attorneys for Salas did not respond to requests for comment, the outlet reported.
Plea and Admission
Salas pleaded guilty in March to second-degree murder and admitted in a written plea that he pulled the trigger. In the statement, he acknowledged what happened in stark terms: “On June 27, 2025, in the State of Washington, I fired a gun at K.J.S. and this killed him,” according to The News Tribune.
Investigation and Arrest
Officers say they responded to the 8800 block of Pacific Avenue shortly before 11 p.m. and found Sweeney unresponsive outside a room at the Pacific Lodge. The Pierce County Medical Examiner later identified the victim as Keith Sweeney, 47, and ruled his death a homicide caused by a gunshot wound, according to the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office.
Detectives used surveillance footage and witness statements to zero in on a suspect, and police arrested a man three days later, as first reported in Tacoma Police Arrest Suspect.
Charges and Background
Prosecutors initially floated multiple theories against Salas, including an intentional second-degree murder theory and an unlawful-possession count. The case was narrowed in plea negotiations before he admitted to second-degree murder.
Court filings note that Salas has prior convictions, including a 2018 conviction for criminal mischief with a deadly weapon, along with other felony and misdemeanor records.
Judge Ashcraft’s sentence means Salas will be behind bars for more than a decade, while Sweeney’s family and neighbors are left to absorb the loss. The case is one more entry in a troubling string of violent incidents that have put a harsh spotlight on public-safety efforts along Pacific Avenue in Tacoma.
