At sentencing, prosecutors said journals, practice sessions and the timing of Timothy Bradburn’s return home showed premeditation.
SPOKANE, Wash. — The killing of Timothy Bradburn was presented in court as a crime built over time, with prosecutors saying his daughter prepared for weeks before shooting him as he returned home to Spokane from a trip to Hawaii.
That account shaped the sentence handed down to Alyssa Bradburn, 33, who was ordered to serve 340 months in prison after her conviction for first-degree murder with a firearm enhancement. The prosecution argued the shooting was not the result of a sudden confrontation. Instead, lawyers for the state said the evidence showed planning, rehearsal and a final attack timed to the moment Timothy Bradburn walked through the door of the house they shared.
According to court testimony, Bradburn called 911 on June 25, 2024, and said she had shot her father. She told dispatchers his body was in the entryway and that she would wait outside for officers. By the time the case reached trial, those details had become central to the state’s argument that she acted with premeditation. Prosecutors said Timothy Bradburn had just returned from Hawaii to deal with a leaking roof when he was killed before he could even set down his belongings.
The state said Bradburn had been thinking about the killing for weeks. Prosecutors told jurors she practiced with the firearm inside the home, sought help loading it at a gun range and kept written notes about what she intended to do. That evidence, they said, showed decision after decision rather than a spur-of-the-moment act. They also said she arranged the circumstances inside the house before her father arrived, an argument meant to show control and preparation.
At trial, Bradburn admitted she killed her father. She said she was guilty and would accept prison time. But the road to that statement was not simple. Earlier in the case, she claimed she had acted in self-defense and accused her father of abuse. Those accusations were later withdrawn. The change gave prosecutors another opening to argue that her first explanation did not fit the evidence gathered after the shooting.
The family divide was visible in court. Trace Bradburn, the victim’s son and the defendant’s brother, said the abuse claims had unfairly stained their father’s name. He described Timothy Bradburn as a good man and said the loss had devastated him. His statement placed the case in a broader family context, turning the sentencing hearing into more than a review of evidence. It also underscored how the aftermath of the shooting kept spreading beyond the crime scene.
Defense lawyers urged the court to impose a lighter sentence. They pointed to Alyssa Bradburn’s lack of prior convictions and argued that mental health problems affected her thinking. Her attorney said she could struggle to tell fantasy from reality. Even so, the judge concluded that the nature of the crime demanded a long term behind bars. Judge Julie McKay imposed 280 months for the murder count and added a 60-month firearm enhancement.
The court also ordered 36 months of community custody after Bradburn’s release, restitution connected to Timothy Bradburn’s death and a permanent no-contact order barring her from reaching out to her brother. Prosecutors had asked for a severe punishment, saying the killing of a parent after weeks of planning made the case especially disturbing. The final sentence, while described as mid-range, still amounted to roughly 28 years in prison.
What remained after sentencing was a case defined by preparation as much as violence. Prosecutors said the journals, the practice and the wait at the front door formed a clear pattern. The court agreed the evidence showed murder in the first degree, bringing the criminal case to a close while leaving lasting damage inside one Spokane family.
Author note: Last updated April 9, 2026.