EVERETT — Two grieving parents on Monday tried to describe the hurt of losing of their son over $840.
Brad Dahlquist is a healthy man who has felt an intense physical pain since his boy’s death.
“They’re not just a child. They’re part of you,” he said.
His son Colin Dahlquist was stabbed to death March 28 in an Edmonds grocery store parking lot. Two people lured him there under the ruse of selling him heroin. Codie Allen and Loresa Pilon never intended on handing over any drugs. Allen took his money and Dahlquist, 23, was stabbed during a scuffle over the cash.
The suspects drove off, leaving Dahlquist screaming for help. His condition quickly worsened and he died minutes after police officers found him on his back, covered in blood.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wynne on Monday sentenced Pilon to 7½ years in prison for her part in the slaying. Allen was sentenced last year to 10 years in prison.
Both defendants pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter. Allen also pleaded guilty to robbery.
Everett defense attorney Max Harrison argued for a low-end sentencing, saying that Pilon, 29, didn’t know that her boyfriend was carrying a knife or that violence was a possibility. She was an accomplice, Harrison said.
“We would like a sentence that is just and proportionate to her involvement in this,” the lawyer said.
Pilon, a mother of two young children, apologized for Dahlquist’s death, saying she never meant for anyone to get hurt.
Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Robert Grant argued that Pilon actively participated in the attack and was the getaway driver. She threw punches at Dahlquist and used pepper spray on him, Grant said. She is not a victim, he said.
“This decision to lure (Dahlquist) for a drug rip was an intentional decision, equally made by Loresa Pilon and Codie Allen,” Grant said.
The judge dismissed the defense’s position that Pilon was minimally culpable because she didn’t wield the knife or steal the money. She is “100 percent” responsible and made poor decisions that led to a man’s death, Wynne concluded.
He said he doesn’t know exactly how events unfolded in the parking lot between the suspects and the victim.
“I do know Colin Dahlquist had a drug addiction, a weakness. You and Codie Allen took advantage of that addiction,” Wynne said.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley
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