A Pierce County judge ordered James LaRon Ellis freed Friday, Aug. 28, after 17 years in prison for a murder he committed at 19.

Pierce County Superior Court Judge Stanley Rumbaugh told a courtroom of about two dozen people that further incarceration would accomplish nothing beyond the time already served, The News Tribune reported. He ordered Ellis released immediately, drawing applause and tears from the gallery.

Ellis had pleaded guilty in 2008 to second-degree murder for the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Javon Holden at a Lakewood apartment on March 25, 2008.

Ellis and two other teenagers entered the apartment demanding drugs and money, and Ellis shot Holden in the head, according to court documents cited by the Tribune. He received a 25-year sentence and entered prison in 2009.

His case returned to court after a November 2025 Washington Supreme Court ruling. Justice Steven C. González wrote in a 5-4 opinion that the trial court judge who handled an earlier resentencing had failed to consider Ellis's youth at the time of the crime. The high court ordered a new sentencing hearing, the Tribune reported at the time.

At Friday's hearing, Rumbaugh weighed Ellis's childhood. The judge described how Ellis saw little of his father, how his mother struggled with mental health issues and addiction, and how Ellis lacked reliable access to food and shelter.

Ellis had been recruited into the "Tillicum Boys" street gang at a young age, and Rumbaugh said peer pressure from fellow gang members motivated the crime.

What set Ellis apart was his record behind bars. Rumbaugh called it "abundant," singling out Ellis's volunteer service as a wildland firefighter through the Washington Department of Natural Resources' Correctional Camps Program.

The program trains roughly 250 incarcerated individuals each year to fight wildfires alongside state crews.

Defense attorney Kelsey Page, of the Pierce County Department of Assigned Counsel, told the court that Ellis had deployed into communities for days at a time and saw the ocean for the first time during firefighting work.

"He goes out, he sees things he's never seen. He's greeted as a hero by the community, and he returns to prison, where he's treated like a prisoner," Page said.

Rumbaugh said doing that hazardous work and then returning to prison was remarkable.

Deputy prosecuting attorney Brittany North requested a sentence of 20 years and five months, which would have kept Ellis locked up for roughly 33 more months. North said the state was impressed with Ellis's rehabilitation. She also noted that prosecutors tried to contact the victim's family but were unsuccessful.

Rumbaugh rejected the longer sentence. He said he could not see how another 33 months would accomplish more than the previous 17 to 18 years.

Ellis, 37, appeared via Zoom from Airway Heights Corrections Center outside Spokane. Three people spoke on his behalf, including his 19-year-old son, LaRon Paige, a high school graduate who works at a warehouse. Paige told the court that the man who went to prison was someone he did not know, but the man he saw on the screen was a father.

When Ellis addressed the court, he began with an apology to his family and said he pays for his remorse every day with how he treats other people. He told the judge he could not wait to give back to the community.

Paige, asked after court about his father's firefighting work, had a short answer: "Sky's the limit."