Why Did a Man Who Livestreamed Himself Shooting a Homeless Person Get 3 Years in Jail?

Mar. 15, 2025

Hoyt Webb.Photo:KREM 2 News/YouTube

KREM 2 News/YouTube

An Idaho man who admitted to livestreaming himself shooting and seriously wounding a homeless person in downtown Spokane, Wash., was sentenced to 39 months in jail.

In a plea agreement with prosecutors, Hoyt Webb, 36, of Coeur d’Alene, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault,online court recordsshow.

The shooting left the victim, Thomas Hatch, 47, suffering from life-threatening injuries, including losing a kidney and half of his bowels as well as damage to a coronary artery,Fox28 Spokanereports.

The victim’s brother, Eric Kessler, expressed shock at the length of the sentence Webb received. “I still don’t believe what he got was fair,” he said, local station Fox28 Spokane reports.

But according to court documents, Webb yelled obscenities at people in a 7-Eleven parking lot, which led to an argument between Webb and some of the people who were there,local outlet KHQreports.

Webb then went to his car and grabbed his gun, the court documents state.

The livestream posted to Webb’s YouTube channel then shows him pointing the gun and firing it at Hatch from a “first person point of view,” KXLY reports.

“It’s gonna be a bad idea if they pull anything out on me, ‘cause I’m pro-Second Amendment,” Webb can be heard yelling at the start of the livestream, court records show, KXLY reports. “I don’t have a felony so I can carry a gun, and I have a concealed firearm permit.”

Was It Self-Defense?

In the livestream, Webb can be heard yelling at someone to drop a rock, saying striking someone with a rock would be assault with a weapon, court records show,local outlet KGWreports.

Webb then fired the gun in what he claimed was was an initial warning shot, yelling “back the f— up,” court records show, according to KXLY.

Webb fired the gun again, which struck Hatch in the torso. The victim was rushed to a local hospital.

But police said the livestream captured Hatch coming toward Webb carrying an iced coffee — and nothing else, KXLY reports.

Besides being sentenced to jail time, Webb will also serve 18 months of community custody, Fox28 Spokane reprots.

Webb has also been ordered to have no contact with Hatch for ten years.

Kessler said he watched the livestream, which has since been taken down.

“I heard that slide hammer cocked back,” he told Fox28 Spokane.  “I stopped the video right there for a second, gained my senses, and then pressed play.”

His brother, he said, is a good person who has battled addiction, he told Fox 28 Spokane. “It’s more than an addiction,” he said. “It’s more of a disease.”

His attorney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

source: people.com