By Diana Hefley

Herald Writer

EVERETT — Daniel Rinker killed a young boy’s mother.

He shot Jessica Jones in the head and then blamed the deadly gunfire on someone else.

Jones died April 9, 2014, the day after she was found in a pool of blood on the floor of Rinker’s grandparents’ Arlington garage. She was 25.

Her son is 9. He has his mom’s smile and sassy wit. The third-grader is good at math. He is learning to drum with his Tulalip relatives.

The boy drew a picture of a tulip after his mom’s death. He told his grandmother to hold onto the drawing if she felt sad.

Pamela Blount’s sadness was etched on her face Feb. 1 as she stood feet from Rinker and pleaded with a Snohomish County judge to “throw away the key.”

Her daughter made mistakes but she didn’t deserve to lose her life over them, Blount wrote in a letter.

Superior Court Judge Millie Judge sentenced Rinker to 28 years in prison for the domestic violence killing.

“Today is for Jessica and justice for her and her family,” Judge said.

Rinker, 27, pleaded guilty in December to second-degree murder with a deadly weapon.

Detectives suspect that Rinker was worried that Jones was going break up with him. Witnesses reported hearing Rinker threaten to kill Jones in the past, Arlington police detective Mike Sargent wrote in court papers. They also said that Rinker abused Jones.

On the day of the shooting neighbors reported hearing yelling from the garage followed by a single gunshot. They saw Rinker run from the garage and toss something into a nearby field.

Detectives found a silver revolver in the grass close to where neighbors spotted Rinker. The revolved appeared to be the same gun Rinker was holding in a picture posted on Facebook.

Rinker initially told detectives that Jones was hit by gunfire from a passing car.

Arlington detectives also speculated that Rinker was cheating on Jones with an underage girl. Rinker remains charged with second-degree child rape in connection with that relationship. He is scheduled to go to trial in March.

His attorney, Jennifer Rancourt, advised Rinker not to say much because of the pending rape charges. Her client is remorseful. He and his family loved Jones, Rancourt said.

“He is punishing himself on a daily basis,” she said.

Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Randy Yates agreed to recommend a 25-year sentence in exchange for Rinker’s guilty plea, which spared Blount and her family a long trial.

“I never meant for this to happen. I’m sorry,” Rinker said.

The defendant took away a mother and a daughter, Judge said. He is remorseful now but the judge said she couldn’t ignore what happened in that garage.

“You showed no compassion, no mercy and no leniency to Jessica Jones that day,” Judge said. “You deprived a child of a mother he will never know.”