He was ‘haunted’ by report of woman’s assault. He just pleaded guilty to Whatcom shooting
A Bellingham man has pleaded guilty to an attempted murder charge for shooting and injuring a Birch Bay man he accused of assaulting one of his family members.
Martin Dylan Siergiey, 37, pleaded guilty Monday, Jan. 9, to one count of attempted second-degree murder and one count of drive-by shooting, both felonies, in Whatcom County Superior Court.
Siergiey was charged Feb. 22, 2021, with one count of attempted first-degree murder and one count of drive-by shooting. His attempted murder charge was amended down as part of a plea deal, according to court records.
Siergiey’s sentencing hearing has tentatively been scheduled for Jan. 18. His standard sentencing range is between nine years and 15 years, three months in prison, court records show.
“Mr. Siergiey has been an upstanding citizen working hard, taking care of his friends, and family, for his entire life. He has no past history of violence, or any type of criminal behavior, leading up to this shooting. There has been an outpouring of support by those who know him and his gentle personality,” Emily Beschen, Siergiey’s defense attorney, told The Bellingham Herald in a statement. “Mr. Siergiey has entered a plea of guilty accepting full responsibility for his actions. He has great remorse for those who lived in the neighborhood at the time of the shooting, and who were frightened by his behavior that day.”
Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Richey, who is handling Siergiey’s case, declined to comment Thursday on the guilty plea.
Shortly after 5:45 p.m. on Feb. 19, 2021, Whatcom County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the 5500 block of Hillvue Road for the report of a shooting, with at least one person injured, according to court records.
A then-28-year-old man told deputies he was standing outside his Birch Bay home when a man, later identified as Siergiey, drove up to him. Siergiey unrolled the window, asked the man to confirm his name and then accused the man of sexually assaulting a female family member in 2019, the court records state.
Siergiey then pulled a black automatic handgun out and shot at the victim several times, according to court records. The victim ran through a neighbor’s yard, over a fence and into a neighbor’s house, The Herald previously reported.
The victim was struck in the right upper thigh by at least one bullet and suffered non-life-threatening injuries, the court records show. The victim was treated and released by medics, records state.
Two rounds also struck the neighbor’s house, with one hitting the neighbor’s headboard and the other hitting a closet in their bedroom, the court records state.
The victim, who told deputies he did not know Siergiey and had never seen him before, was able to pick Siergiey out from a photo lineup shown to him.
The victim told sheriff’s deputies that a woman had come to his house during the winter of 2020 “following a chance encounter.” The victim said he and the woman had consensual sex, she left and he never saw her again, the court records state.
The woman told deputies the victim sexually assaulted her in 2020, but declined to cooperate further. Court records state that the woman allegedly went to the victim’s house in winter 2020 to rehome a dog and later told Siergiey she was assaulted. Siergiey called law enforcement to report the assault. The woman, who court records state has past trauma with law enforcement and reporting violent crime, declined to cooperate with sheriff’s deputies who responded to her home, according to the records.
In a forensic psychological evaluation of Siergiey submitted to the court in preparation for a jury trial, Siergiey said he ruminated on the woman’s assault report. Siergiey told the psychologist that “a faceless person was just kind of ... not really haunting me, but just looming over me, I guess,” referring to the shooting victim, the records show.
Siergiey told the evaluator he had driven by the shooting victim’s house on several occasions. He also told the evaluator that on the evening of the shooting, he didn’t go to the shooting victim’s house with the intention to assault him and said he was not trying to shoot at any nearby houses, the court records state.
Siergiey turned himself into law enforcement around 1 a.m. after the shooting. He has no previous felony criminal history, according to court records.
Resources
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence or sexual assault, you can contact the following local resources for free, confidential support:
Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Services: 24-hour Help Line: 360-715-1563, Email: info@dvsas.org.
Lummi Victims of Crime: 360-312-2015.
Tl’ils Ta’á’altha Victims of Crime: 360-325-3310 or nooksacktribe.org/departments/youth-family-services/tlils-taaaltha-victims-of-crime-program/
Bellingham Police: You can call anonymously at 360-778-8611, or go online at cob.org/tips.
WWU Survivor Advocacy Services at the Counseling & Wellness Center: 360-650-7982 or https://cwc.wwu.edu/survivorservices.
Brigid Collins Family Support Center: 360-734-4616, brigidcollins.org.
