Trace Bradburn spoke about his father’s death before his sister received a 340-month prison term.
SPOKANE, Wash. — Trace Bradburn stood in court this month facing the sister convicted of killing their father and described a loss that prosecutors said began with a planned shooting at the family’s Spokane home.
The sentencing of Alyssa Bradburn, 33, was not only about the length of a prison term. It also addressed the public record left after she first accused Timothy Bradburn of abuse, then withdrew those claims. Trace Bradburn told the court his father was loving and supportive, and that the allegations added pain to the death itself. Judge Julie McKay sentenced Alyssa Bradburn on April 2 to 340 months in prison for first-degree murder with a firearm enhancement.
The case began before dawn June 25, 2024, when Spokane police were sent to the 5600 block of North Cochran Street. A woman had called 911 and said she had shot her father. Officers arrived within minutes, detained Alyssa Bradburn at the front of the residence and found Timothy Bradburn dead inside. He was 68. Police said detectives with the Major Crimes Unit took over the investigation after the home was secured. Court evidence later showed Timothy Bradburn had returned from Hawaii shortly before he was shot near the entry of the house.
From the start, the case carried two competing accounts. Bradburn admitted firing the shots and gave police a journal, but she initially claimed she acted because she feared her father. She alleged abuse against herself and her dogs. Prosecutors later argued that the claims did not match the evidence. Trace Bradburn testified that he had no knowledge of his father abusing his sister or hurting the pets. Investigators also did not find evidence to support the claims, and Alyssa Bradburn later withdrew them.
That withdrawal did not erase the issue from sentencing. For Trace Bradburn, the case was about both the killing and the way his father was described after he could no longer defend himself. He told the court the loss gutted him every day. Other accounts of the family presented Timothy Bradburn as a father who supported his children and remained close to them. The courtroom statements gave McKay a record of the harm beyond the crime scene, including the rupture between the two surviving siblings.
Prosecutors focused on planning. They said Alyssa Bradburn wrote about killing her father, practiced with a firearm and waited for him to return from travel. Deputy prosecuting attorney Emily Sullivan told the court the trial showed an extreme and elaborate degree of planning. The state sought a longer sentence than the defense, arguing that the crime was deliberate and that Timothy Bradburn was shot as he entered his home, not during a fight or attack. The jury convicted Bradburn in March 2026.
The defense asked the judge to weigh Bradburn’s mental health and lack of prior criminal history. Defense attorney Brian Raymon said his client sometimes blurred fantasy and reality. The court record shows Bradburn underwent a competency review in late 2025 and was found competent to stand trial. McKay imposed 280 months on the murder conviction and added 60 months for the firearm enhancement. The judge also entered a no-contact order protecting Trace Bradburn, a sign that the court expected the family divide to continue beyond sentencing.
Bradburn did not make a formal statement before the sentence was imposed. Reports from the hearing said she appeared calm and smiled at points. McKay said no sentence could undo the killing but described the offense as the most serious start to a criminal history. The sentence included prison time, restitution proceedings and post-sentencing rights. A notice of appeal rights was entered in the case file after judgment.
The order leaves Alyssa Bradburn headed for a decades-long prison term and Trace Bradburn protected by a no-contact order. The next court activity is expected to involve restitution or any appeal filing tied to the April 2 judgment.
Author note: Last updated April 27, 2026.