Brandy Escamilla and Josilyn Ruiz were walking past a campsite at the Gorge Amphitheatre when an Army soldier based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord opened fire. The two Seattle nurses, who were engaged to be married, died. Three other people were injured.
On Nov. 5, a military judge sentenced the gunman, Army Spc. James M. Kelly, to 70 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to two counts of unpremeditated murder, according to the Army’s court-martial record.
Kelly’s sentence came nearly a year after a federal judge sentenced Joseph David Emerson to time served. Emerson, an off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot, was riding in the cockpit of a passenger jet out of Everett when he reached for the controls and tried to shut down the engines.
The crew stopped him before the engines lost power, and the plane landed safely in Portland.
In both cases, the men told investigators they had taken psychedelic mushrooms. Kelly took them at the festival and said he thought the world was ending. Emerson said he had taken them about two days before the flight and believed he was dreaming.
How did one man get 70 years in prison and the other get time served? The gap began to open long before either judge handed down a sentence.
Two Seattle Nurses Killed at the Gorge
Escamilla, 29, and Ruiz, 26, were attending the Beyond Wonderland music festival on June 17, 2023. Kelly, 26 at the time and serving as a fire support specialist with the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, had returned to his campsite and retrieved a handgun from his truck, according to court records.
He opened fire as the two women passed nearby. Neither knew him, the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel said.
Kelly then shot bystander Andrew Cuadra in the shoulder. He also assaulted his girlfriend, Lily Luksich, and shot her twice in the lower body after she called 911 and tried to intervene, according to the Army and accounts from investigators.
Kelly fired at a vehicle carrying three festival security workers. One bullet went through the windshield and shattered the glasses of the driver, Lori Williams, leaving her with cuts and bruises.
Kelly also fired at a law enforcement drone before a Moses Lake police detective shot and wounded him in a field near the campground.
The Army took over the prosecution in February 2026 at the request of the Grant County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. In addition to the murder counts, Kelly pleaded guilty to domestic violence, aggravated assault, wrongfully firing a gun and wrongfully using and possessing psilocybin.
The judge also ordered a dishonorable discharge, a reduction to the Army’s lowest enlisted rank and forfeiture of pay and allowances. The Army says Kelly will be confined at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
An Everett Flight Nearly Ends in Disaster
Emerson was riding in an extra cockpit seat on Horizon Air Flight 2059 from Everett to San Francisco on Oct. 22, 2023. The two pilots stopped him before the engines lost power.
After he left the cockpit, a flight attendant blocked him from grabbing an emergency exit handle, according to Oregon prosecutors. The flight diverted to Portland, where officers arrested Emerson.
The other 83 people aboard landed without physical injuries.
Emerson told investigators he had gone more than 40 hours without sleep and believed shutting down the engines would wake him from what he thought was a dream.
His attorneys cited a clinician’s diagnosis of hallucinogen persisting perception disorder, a condition involving lingering changes in perception after hallucinogen use. They also pointed to his treatment, sobriety and existing state sentence in asking the federal judge for probation.
Why the Sentences Were So Different
The biggest difference was in the convictions. Kelly admitted to two killings, and the Army says his 70-year sentence was consistent with his military plea agreement.
The public court summary gives no details on how the parties arrived at that term or what weight the judge gave Kelly’s account of his drug use.
Oregon prosecutors initially filed 83 attempted murder charges against Emerson, but a grand jury declined to indict him on those charges. He pleaded no contest to felony first-degree endangering an aircraft and 83 misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person.
The state judge accepted an agreed sentence of 50 days in jail with credit for time served, five years of probation, 664 hours of community service and about $60,000 in restitution.
Emerson separately pleaded guilty in federal court to interfering with flight crew members and attendants, a felony that carried up to 20 years in prison. Federal prosecutors asked for one year, arguing that the crew’s intervention was the reason nobody died.
U.S. District Judge Amy Baggio imposed time served, three years of supervised release and a separate restitution order of $59,608.
What Magic Mushrooms Do
Magic mushrooms contain psilocybin, a psychedelic compound that can change what people see and how they feel. Some people report vivid imagery or intense emotions. Others experience confusion, panic or paranoia, according to the National Institutes of Health.
In a voluntary international survey, 19 of 9,233 people who reported using magic mushrooms in the previous year said they sought emergency medical care after taking them. The survey measured who sought care, a narrower question than how often people had a distressing reaction.
The research on depression is mixed. In a 2023 trial, adults given psilocybin with psychological support saw greater symptom improvement over six weeks than those given a placebo.
A 2026 trial in people with treatment-resistant depression found no statistically significant difference on its main six-week measure, though some other measures favored psilocybin.
Why Washington Is Debating Supervised Access
Washington still classifies psilocybin as a Schedule I controlled substance. The University of Washington is studying it in veterans and first responders who have both PTSD and alcohol use disorder.
Oregon allows adults 21 and older to use psilocybin under supervision at licensed centers.
Supporters of a 2026 Washington bill said supervised access could offer another option to people who hadn’t found relief through standard treatments. Some witnesses called for stronger screening and emergency procedures.
Others argued that a clinic-only program could price people out while keeping criminal penalties for personal use.
Who would qualify for supervised access, who could afford it, and what would providers have to do if someone had a serious reaction?