A Yakima County jury convicted Gianni Alaimo of aggravated first-degree murder in Heather England's death.

Aggravated first-degree murder is the count the Yakima Herald-Republic says carries a mandatory life term with no early release for good behavior. Judge Elisabeth Tutsch set sentencing for Jan. 19, so that mandatory term is what the conviction requires and not a sentence already pronounced. The not-guilty verdict on the assault count against Mark Tyler Encinas is a jury finding too, and the January malicious-mischief and custodial-assault counts are still charges.

The Yakima Herald-Republic, in a story by Donald W. Meyers dated Nov. 2, 2026, reported that a Yakima County Superior Court jury took about four-and-a-half hours on Thursday to convict Gianni Philip Alaimo of murdering his girlfriend. The visible byline read "5 hrs ago," and the page's time element was 2026-11-02T05:00:00-08:00. The story does not print a clock for publication beyond that, and it does not print the calendar date of the Thursday it describes. It reported jurors began deliberating around 11:30 a.m. after closing arguments and returned guilty verdicts on all but one of the charges shortly after 4 p.m. It reported Alaimo, 47, of Parker, was found guilty of aggravated first-degree murder, eluding sheriff's deputies, and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm in the death of Heather England, and guilty on the lesser count of second-degree murder in her death. It reported the firearm count stems from his conviction for second-degree assault in Thurston County Superior Court in 1999, and that he stipulated to the jury that he had a conviction that stripped him of his firearms rights without the details of that case. It reported jurors found him not guilty of second-degree assault against his cousin, Mark Tyler Encinas. It reported that with the aggravated first-degree murder conviction he will receive a mandatory life sentence that includes no provisions for an early release for good behavior. It reported jurors found that he acted with premeditation, that her death was the result of domestic violence, and that she had a protection order against him that was issued hours before she was killed outside his Mellis Road home. A mandatory life term the paper says the conviction carries, and a sentencing date of Jan. 19 before Judge Elisabeth Tutsch, are not the same step. The not-guilty count is a verdict. It is not an acquittal on the murder counts.

The killing the verdicts are about is Sept. 6, 2024, and the paper puts the shots in the early morning hours. It reported England's sister told Yakima police on Sept. 3, 2024, that Alaimo, who had been dating England for four months, was acting erratically and accusing her of cheating, and that when he would not leave the sister's house the sister drove England to their mother's house. It reported he followed, cut them off, and hit a parked car and their vehicle. It reported he was arrested, that police recommended high bail because of an extensive criminal history and because he was a documented Sureño gang member, and that he was released on supervision at a Sept. 5, 2024, preliminary appearance, ordered to have no contact with England and not to come within 1,000 feet of her. It reported he was released from jail around 5:50 p.m. that day and told to report to pretrial services the next morning. It reported Deputy Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney Diane Hehir told jurors the premeditation began forming after Judge Jared Boswell gave him a 30-year protection order. A preliminary-appearance release around 5:50 p.m. and a 30-year order from Judge Boswell are both in the story. The story does not print a clock that puts those two events in the same minute. It reported Encinas picked him up from the McDonald's near the jail, that they later drank at a Yakima bar until 2 a.m., and that they drove separately to the house. The defense closing, the paper reported, called the bar the Little Dutch Inn. A Yakima bar and the Little Dutch Inn are not the same name on the page. It reported that, according to the affidavit, England came to the house, they argued, he took Encinas's pistol and pointed it at her, she ran, and he fired the shots that killed her in the backyard. She was 37. It reported he was arrested Sept. 10 after a chase on Interstate 82 into downtown Yakima, with speeds exceeding 100 mph on the freeway and dropping to 70 mph on East Yakima Avenue. That chase is the eluding count. It is not the murder verdict.

The paper reported Hehir told jurors he asked, in a recording of the protection-order hearing, whether he would get in trouble if England came to his house, that a jail call had him saying she was not going to follow through, and that on the way to booking he said she was going to get "karma." It quoted Hehir: "He didn't bring the gun, but he brought the guy who had the gun." It reported Encinas openly carried a Canik 9mm, that a neighbor, Aidee Frias, heard England identify the shooter as "Gino," and that Hehir treated the flight, an abandoned Cadillac, and a later chase from Detective Gabriel Bazán as consciousness of guilt. It reported defense attorney Scott Bruns told jurors, "Mark Encinas lied," that the state's case rested on the cousin, that Encinas had not mentioned cocaine use until cross-examination, and that Alaimo's DNA on the magazine did not prove he took the gun out that night. It reported Bruns said the dying declaration was not as clear as the prosecution heard it, and that Alaimo fled because he was afraid of being falsely accused. A closing argument is not a verdict. The guilty counts and the one not-guilty count are what the jury returned. The paper reported Tutsch scheduled sentencing for Jan. 19. It reported he is also facing second-degree malicious mischief and reckless endangerment for the earlier incident with England, and second-degree malicious mischief and custodial assault after he threw urine and feces at a corrections officer. It reported those counts are tentatively set for trial in January. Those January counts are charges. They were not part of Thursday's verdicts. The Herald story does not report that an appeal has been filed. He retains the right to appeal. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.