A Tacoma-area man who fatally shot his father with a shotgun last year has been sentenced to 15 years and three months in prison. A psychologist found that the shooter was in the throes of a mental health crisis at the time.
Michael Paul Courtney, 42, pleaded guilty Oct. 16 to second-degree murder with a firearm for the death of 63-year-old Paul Courtney in his Parkland home.
After his arrest, Michael Courtney’s mother told law enforcement that her son had been acting strangely in the days leading up to the incident, saying odd things and talking to himself. According to court documents, the defendant’s parents were watching a Seattle Mariners game the evening of Oct. 10, 2025 when his mother heard him talking upstairs as if he was communicating to another person…