A woman who smiled in court has been sentenced to 28 years for killing her father
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A Washington state woman, who once smiled in court, has been sentenced to nearly three decades in prison for killing her father, a case prosecutors say was marked by weeks of planning.
Alyssa Bradburn, 33, was sentenced April 2 in Spokane County Superior Court to 340 months in prison after a jury found her guilty of aggravated assault with a firearm in the 2024 killing of her father, Timothy Bradburn.
The sentence, which is almost 28 years, comes about a month after the jury handed down the sentence.
Prosecutors said Bradburn showed little emotion during the trial, often remaining silent and occasionally smiling. During his testimony he said he was “enjoyed” the trial but believes he deserves to be punished and will accept his sentence.
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Alyssa Bradburn is escorted to court as she faces sentencing for the shooting death of her father in Spokane. (Fox 28 Spokane)
“I killed Tim Bradburn, and I’m guilty,” he said during the trial, smiling, according to The Spokesman-Review. “I’m not afraid anymore. I’m ready to go to jail anyway.”
According to court documents and testimony presented by prosecutors, Bradburn called 911 on June 25, 2024, to report that he had shot his father while returning home from a trip to Hawaii.
He told the morticians that his body was in the driveway of their home in Northwest Spokane and that he would be waiting for the police outside.
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The Spokane home where Timothy Bradburn was shot and killed by his daughter Alyssa after returning from a trip to Hawaii. (Fox 28 Spokane)
Investigators say Timothy Bradburn was attacked as he walked through the front door, carrying his suitcase and keys.
Bradburn told detectives he believed he shot her three times – twice in the chest and once in the head to make sure she was dead. An autopsy later found that he had been shot four times.
Prosecutors say the killing was deliberate.
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Bradburn admitted that he began planning to kill his father weeks in advance, practicing with the gun in the house and getting help loading it at the gun range. He also wrote about the program in the days before the shooting.
“The evidence… showed an extreme and extensive level of planning,” said Deputy Prosecutor Emily Sullivan.
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Bradburn initially said she was defending herself, saying her father was abusing her and her dogs, but later retracted those allegations, FOX 28 Spokane reported.
During his sentencing, his brother, Trace Bradburn, described the devastating impact of the loss.
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Trace Bradburn delivered a victim impact statement in Spokane County Superior Court during her sentencing for her father’s murder. (Fox 28 Spokane)
“Dad was everything to me,” she said.
He also retracted the previous accusations and said that they were unfairly harming his father’s memory.
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“His false accusations have really damaged his memory,” she said, according to FOX 28. “My father was a wonderful man, and he did nothing to hurt anyone.”
“I have to live my life with that… and it just makes me angry every day,” he added.
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Prosecutors had asked for the maximum sentence of 320 months and a 60-month gun enhancement, saying the father’s murder, combined with the level of planning, made the case extremely disturbing.
Bradburn’s attorney argued for a lower sentence, citing his lack of criminal history and mental health issues, saying he sometimes struggles to distinguish between fiction and reality, the report said.
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Judge Julie McKay ultimately imposed a mid-range sentence of 280 months, plus a 60-month firearms enhancement, for a total of 340 months.
“Unfortunately, the crime that Ms. Bradburn decided to start with is the most important and serious of all that we have,” McKay said during the sentencing, according to the report.
In addition to the jail time, Bradburn will serve 36 months of community custody, must pay restitution related to his father’s death, and is permanently barred from contacting his brother.
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The judge agreed that the family had suffered, and said that no sentence could reverse the loss.
Bradburn’s legal team declined to comment on the sentence or his change in appearance.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Spokane County District Attorney’s Office for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
