Man pleads guilty to manslaughter in Bellingham transient camp shooting

BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Travis William Hamilton, age 40, pled guilty to a felony charge of 2nd-degree manslaughter in Whatcom County Superior Court and received an exceptional sentence of 75 months (6.25 years) in prison with credit for time served while awaiting trial followed by 18 months in community custody.

The charge stems from an incident that occurred on September 3, 2021, in an encampment in a wooded area behind a retail business in the 4400 block of Guide Meridian. First responders were dispatched to the location due to reports of a gunshot victim.

According to documents filed in Whatcom County Superior Court, Bellingham Police Department (BPD) detectives responded and discovered the body of a deceased man. There was a canvas tent in the area and 2 firearms were taken from inside and secured by BPD officers.

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Detectives interviewed Hamilton who said he was asleep in a chair outside the tent when he was awoken by the sound of a gunshot. He saw the victim crawling to a bed inside the tent while complaining he had been shot.

While the murder investigation continued, BPD officers took Hamilton into custody and booked him into Whatcom County Jail due to outstanding arrest warrants for failure to appear in a Superior Court case where he faced a burglary charge and another in Bellingham Municipal Court for trespass.

Whatcom County Medical Examiner Gary Goldfogel performed an autopsy which located a black colored .22 caliber bullet in the victim’s torso. The gunshot wound was determined to not have been self-inflicted.

As a result of the weapons seized at the scene, the autopsy findings and witness statements, investigators said there was probable cause to charge Hamilton.

Hamilton also pled guilty to a charge of 3rd-degree theft in another case from 2019 and received a sentence of 364 days in custody to be served concurrently with the manslaughter sentence and also with credit for time served.