EVERETT — A man who barricaded himself in a Marysville apartment with a 4-year-old girl last month told a judge he was suicidal the day of the standoff.
“I knew I’d never hurt myself in front of the little girl. The last thing I want to do is hurt anyone,” Jason Tryon said.
Tryon, 33, pleaded guilty Wednesday to unlawful imprisonment while armed with a knife and fourth-degree domestic violence assault. He was accused of punching the child’s mother, his girlfriend, in the face during the Jan. 14 incident.
Tryon also pleaded guilty to failing to register with the sheriff’s office. He is a Level 3 sex offender with a 2004 conviction for having sex with a teenage girl.
Superior Court Judge Anita Farris sentenced Tryon to just under two years in prison.
Before the judge handed down her sentence, the defendant’s mother detailed some of her son’s mental health issues. She told Farris that Tryon has struggled since he was a boy with mental illness. She also said he became addicted to methamphetamine in his late teens. She pleaded with the judge to help her son, saying he needs treatment.
“I want my son to be OK. I want him to get some help,” the mother said.
Tryon and his girlfriend, 26, had been smoking meth and marijuana prior to the incident. They ended up arguing and Tryon threatened to cut himself. When Tryon refused to drop the knife he was holding, his girlfriend picked up a baseball bat. She warned him that she was going to hit him.
The woman told investigators that Tryon, who stands 6 feet 8 inches, grabbed the bat from her and threw her to the ground. The woman also was hit in the face.
The argument woke up the woman’s 4-year-old daughter, who witnessed the assault, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Matthew Baldock wrote in court papers.
The woman ran to a neighbor for help. The neighbor attempted to get the girl, but Tryon reportedly refused to let her go and threatened the woman with a knife, court papers said. She called 911.
Tryon refused to surrender and barricaded himself in the apartment, piling furniture against the front door. During the 13-hour standoff, officers could hear the girl pleading with Tryon to let her leave.
Eventually, heavily armed tactical officers forced their way into the apartment and arrested Tryon. He had a 12-inch butcher knife in the waistband of his pants. The girl was found hiding in a closet. She was not hurt.
Tryon on Wednesday told the judge that he’s finished with drugs.
“All I want to do is better myself,” he said.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
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