Crispina Lorezca has voluntarily dismissed a wrongful-death lawsuit she filed over the killing of her son, 40-year-old plumber Thomas Lorezca, who was fatally shot on a service call in Spanaway in May 2022. A Pierce County judge ordered the civil case dismissed on April 27, 2026, closing the family’s civil fight for accountability while the criminal conviction against the shooter remains in place.
What the lawsuit alleged
The suit, filed last year with Lorezca acting as personal representative of her son’s estate, alleged that the shooter, Jacques Dothard, struggled with mental health and substance abuse, had prior convictions that barred him from possessing firearms, and still managed to get the gun used in the killing from an unnamed “John Doe,” according to The News Tribune. After months of litigation, the plaintiff’s attorney asked the court to dismiss the case. Court records show the judge signed off on that voluntary dismissal on April 27.
The shooting and criminal case
Prosecutors say Lorezca had been called to a home in the 1000 block of Military Road E on May 23, 2022, for a plumbing repair when a dispute broke out over a damaged gate. As Lorezca sat in his work truck, surveillance video and charging papers say Dothard opened fire, shooting roughly seven times into the driver’s side and killing the 40-year-old, according to FOX13 Seattle. Deputies later recovered multiple firearms and reported that Dothard had asked a neighbor to hold some guns after the shooting.
Plea, sentence and memorial
Dothard pleaded guilty in June 2024 and was sentenced the following month to about 21 years in prison, matching the term jointly recommended by prosecutors and the defense, as reported by The News Tribune. At the sentencing hearing, Beacon Plumbing owner Bill Cahill described Lorezca as a “marquee human” who mentored younger plumbers and said his funeral drew a large crowd of coworkers and friends, a testament to how deeply he was rooted in the local trades community.
Legal note
A voluntary dismissal typically ends a civil claim without any finding on liability unless the court’s order says otherwise. Under Washington Superior Court Civil Rule 41, plaintiffs can withdraw or seek dismissal of their claims under specific conditions. In this case, that leaves the criminal conviction as the central legal outcome while the civil file is formally closed.
With the dismissal, the public courtroom battles over Lorezca’s death are effectively over, at least for now. The loss of a well-liked Spanaway plumber, and the questions that followed, continue to echo through his workplace and the wider South Pierce County community.
