LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The man who shot and killed Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Officer Truong Thai nearly four years ago was sentenced Monday to 74 years to life in prison.
Tyson Hampton, 28, pleaded guilty but mentally ill in May to 28 charges, including first-degree murder and four counts of attempted murder. Prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty as part of the plea agreement.
Hampton appeared in court Monday in shackles as Thai’s family, fellow officers and Hampton’s loved ones packed the courtroom for an emotional sentencing hearing.
Thai, 49, was shot and killed on Oct. 13, 2022, while responding to a domestic violence call near University Center Drive and Flamingo Road.
Body camera video played during Monday’s hearing showed some of Thai’s final moments.
Police said Hampton was sitting inside a blue Nissan when Thai approached him. Hampton grabbed an AK-47-style pistol from the passenger seat and opened fire, shooting 18 rounds.
Thai was struck in the torso. Despite being wounded and falling to the ground, he and his partner, Officer Ryan Gillihan, returned fire. Thai later died at the hospital.
Gillihan told the court Monday that the shooting continues to affect him nearly four years later.
“My life changed forever that night,” Gillihan said. “I can’t look at a blue Nissan without thinking about it. I can’t hear popping sounds without thinking about it, and I’ve had many nightmares.”
“My coworker, my partner, brother and friend was taken that night because of his actions,” Gillihan added.
The case stretched on for years as questions surrounding Hampton’s mental health and competency delayed court proceedings.
Hampton was previously found incompetent to stand trial and ordered to undergo treatment at a state psychiatric hospital. He was later found competent to proceed.
During Monday’s sentencing, Hampton’s attorneys argued that untreated mental illness played a significant role in what happened.
“When someone has a bad brain, they just act differently,” Hampton’s defense attorney told the court. “They do things that can’t be understood.”
Hampton’s wife, Vanessa Gonzalez, also addressed the court, telling the judge she regretted not doing more to get her husband help.
“That night, that wasn’t him,” Gonzalez said. “It was never him. He would never do such a thing like that.”
When District Judge Tierra Jones asked Hampton whether he wanted to say anything before he was sentenced, Hampton offered a brief response: “I’m sorry,” he said.
On the other side of the courtroom, Thai’s loved ones and fellow officers described the grief they have carried since his death.
“As long as I still have a voice, I will speak his name,” Thai’s sister, Betsy Thai, told the court.
Gillihan asked the judge to impose a sentence that would keep Hampton behind bars.
“All I ask is that he never sees the light of day,” he said.
Prosecutors also argued for a severe sentence, pointing to Thai’s killing and the other lives put at risk that night.
“When someone called for help, Officer Thai went,” prosecutors told the court. “And on October 13, 2022, he answered that last call for help, a domestic violence call, and the defendant killed him for it.”
Jones acknowledged Hampton’s mental health issues but said they did not eliminate the need for accountability.
“Sadly, when there is that long line of victims that comes after a mental health issue that was never addressed, there still has to be responsibility for that,” Jones said.
Jones sentenced Hampton to 74 years to life in prison, with credit for time already served.
For Thai’s family, the sentence closes a major chapter in a case that began nearly four years ago, but his sister told the court no punishment could undo what happened.
“There is no court sentence that can return what was taken from us,” Betsy Thai said.
