The man was convicted of a high-speed chase and shooting in 2023

Staff of the Kitsap Sun
| Kitsap Sun

The driver of a high-speed chase from Tacoma to Horst in July 2023 that ended in the death of a man on his way to work at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard was sentenced to 11 years in prison this week.

Mark Keith Smith, 27, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and second-degree aggravated assault for possession of a firearm Monday in Kitsap Superior Court. Superior Court Judge Jennifer Forbes sentenced Smith to 137 months in prison, three years of probation after that, and about $8,000 in restitution.

On the afternoon of July 24, 2023, Smith, who lived in Burien, was suspected of initiating the so-called a traffic incident that turned into a 27-mile highway chasefrom I-5 in Pierce County to Horst, which ended when Smith shot and killed 68-year-old Patrick Weems after both cars stopped on the shoulder of Highway 16 near where it merges with Highway 3. Witnesses said at the time to WSP troopers that both Drivers got out of their cars and got into a verbal confrontation, and then Smith pulled a gun and pointed it at Weems’ head. After Weems tried to push the gun away, Smith fired, according to court documents.

Smith fled the scene but was arrested on Lake Flora Road near Highway 3 later that day after a Kitsap County trooper who heard about the incident saw Smith’s black Toyota 4Runner and reported it. He tried to throw the weapon used in the attack down a side road, according to court documents.

Weems was taken to St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Tacoma, where he died of the gunshot wound a day later. In preparation for Smith’s trial, Weems’ family members released statements describing how the family gathered around him at the hospital and spoke of the grief and trauma they felt after the incident. In court documents, Weems, a resident of University Place, was described as a loving husband, father, brother, sister, grandfather and great-grandfather who loved, among other things, sports and classic cars. Family members also urged the court to give Smith the harshest sentence.