It is hard to fathom what Wendi Traynor’s father and uncle went through the day they walked into her Milton apartment – or what kind of courage it took for them to swing open the door.
“It will never go away; the vision my husband had when he found her on the floor,” said Sherrie Jones, Wendi’s aunt. “That was his favorite little niece.”
Just inside the front door, they found Wendi dead, face down, decomposing, with a bullet wound to the back of her head.
She was only 25 years old.
On that day in 2017, Wendi’s family had little doubt who took her life.
Within days, her estranged boyfriend, Joshua Ellis, was in custody and made his first appearance in court. Once again, her family summoned all the courage they could muster and faced him.
“I just hope justice is served, that’s all I have to say,” Jones told reporters outside the courtroom that day.
Fast forward six years, and she’s still hoping for the same thing.
One trial, one appeal, and one overturned conviction later – Joshua Ellis is about to get the deal of a lifetime. In an anticipated court hearing Friday morning, prosecutors are expected to let Ellis plead guilty in exchange for dropping a gun enhancement and agreeing to 123 months in prison. With time served, Ellis could walk free by 2025.
“I don’t see anything that mitigates to the extent that they should offer such a light sentence,” said Anne Bremner, a Seattle-area trial attorney working for the family pro bono.
Perhaps there is a weakness in the case against Ellis that would warrant such a lenient deal?
“No,” said former Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Lindquist, whose office brought the original case against Ellis back in 2017. “12 jurors already found him guilty.”
Ellis was first tried and convicted of Wendi’s murder back in 2019, when a jury rejected his claim that he shot her in self-defense. Pierce County Superior Court Judge James Orlando sentenced Ellis to the maximum allowed under the law.
“The autopsy pictures from Wendi's case will haunt me,” Judge Orlando told Ellis at sentencing. “You didn't do anything that deserves anything other than the high end.”
Judge Orlando, summoning courage of his own, tore apart Ellis’ self-defense claim and lamented that the sentence could not go higher.
“I’ve never had anybody that treated a dead body as callously as you did,” he said, referring to evidence that Ellis tampered with the position of Wendi’s body and returned to the apartment in the days after the murder to feed his dog, stepping over her in the process. “I just can't in my conscience give you anything less than the 220 months, plus the 60-month (firearm) enhancement for a total of 280 months. It is still probably far less than what is deserved in this case.”
While less than the family hoped for, Ellis would be behind bars for more than 20 years.
Or so they thought.
In 2021, the Washington State Court of Appeals overturned the conviction, citing prosecutorial misconduct. According to the ruling, Prosecutor John Neeb “invoked racial stereotypes and appealed to the prejudice of the jury” when he referenced the O.J. Simpson case during jury selection. While the reference was not directed at Ellis, who is black, the court found it nonetheless could have deprived Ellis of a fair trial.
Despite the setback, Wendi’s family was determined to push forward. As they readied themselves for another trial this summer, Jones said they were blindsided by news of a deal. Hoping to get prosecutors to reconsider, they brought on Anne Bremner to walk them through the options, which include convincing a judge to reject the terms of the agreement, or convincing prosecutors to proceed to trial.
Bremner said evidence in the case remains strong.
“There are no fatal flaws, so to speak, in anticipated proof in the case,” she said. “There was a reversal based upon comments made in jury selection, but that shouldn’t impact this case. It’s a clean slate.”
So why offer a deal in the first place, especially one the family objects to so strenuously?
Bremner said she has heard through the legal grapevine that prosecutors are hesitant to retry Ellis in the current political climate, particularly given how much attitudes around race and the criminal justice system have changed from 2019 to present.
A source with knowledge of the case backed up those rumors, telling unDivided that prosecutors feel retrials are becoming less predictable. If Ellis were acquitted at trial, he would walk out of prison with no felony conviction on his record.
In an email to unDivided, the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney's Office claimed that rules of professional conduct prevent them from answering questions about the case until it is resolved – even though prosecutors speak publicly about ongoing cases all the time.
Bonney Lake Police Sgt. Brian Byerley, who was one of the original detectives assigned to Wendi’s case, said he shares the family’s concerns about Ellis being released. Considering the domestic violence component of the crime, Byerley said he fears other women could be victimized.
“There is so much talk about domestic violence and gun crimes,” he said, “And this is both. A classic, ‘If I can’t have her, no one can’ DV case where a firearm was used to kill another human being. The agreed upon sentence is really light and does not feel like either of those major issues are factored in.”
While he has since been reassigned, Sgt. Byerley remains in contact with the family – inspired by their courage to keep fighting.
“I want to see it through to completion,” said Byerley, who plans to be in court on Friday. “I worked closely with the family and got to know them. When families experience trauma like this, sometimes listening to them vent during all the stages of grief is the only service you can provide at the time. You form a bond through that kind of trauma.”
Lindquist said the deal being offered to Ellis by his former office is not only a slap in the face to Wendi’s family, but to the public at large.
“I feel bad for this family,” he said. “They’ve been victimized three times. First by the murder, second by the reversal of the conviction, and now thirdly by this potential plea bargain. I hope the prosecutor’s office steps up and tries to do what’s right – for the family and also for the community.”
“It sends a horrible message and quite frankly that kind of messaging has contributed to a high crime rate in Pierce County. When the criminal subculture starts to think there are no consequences, no accountability, people run amok.”
For Wendi’s aunt, who long worked in the legal field, the system of justice she once knew is gone.
“We’re terrified,” Jones said, asked about the prospect of Ellis getting out of prison in just two years. That’s why she and the rest of Wendi’s family are determined to keep fighting until the last possible moment.
“I know that it’s going to be really difficult, but we have to try,” Jones said. “This is not right.”
What will she tell prosecutors tomorrow if given the chance?
“That they should not be afraid.”
Perhaps prosecutors could look to the family for a lesson in courage. Or, better yet, to Wendi herself.
In the weeks before her young life was taken, Wendi was trying to take it back. She had tried twice to flee from her relationship with Ellis while the two were living in Kentucky. Each time, he tracked her down on her trip back to Washington state.
He isolated her. He threatened her. He manipulated her. When none of that worked, he killed her.
Wendi had courage to fight for her future and her life. Her family has courage to fight for justice.
After all, justice and cowardice are not compatible.
Perhaps someone should tell the prosecution.
