Soldier sentenced to 70 years for deadly shooting at Gorge music festival

QUINCY, Wash. (KPTV) - A soldier who killed two people and wounded several others at a crowded music festival in central Washington has been sentenced.

Spc. James Kelly, 29, pleaded guilty to the June 2023 murders of Brandy Escamilla and Josilyn Ruiz. He also pleaded guilty to charges of domestic violence, reckless discharge of a firearm, and the wrongful use and possession of psilocybin, a Schedule I controlled substance.

Kelly was sentenced him to 70 years of confinement, reduction in rank to E-1, and a dishonorable discharge from the Army.

Prosecutors said Kelly was at the “Beyond Wonderland” music festival at the Gorge Amphitheatre near Quincy, Washington, when he took magic mushrooms and became paranoid. They said he then pulled out a pistol and shot Escamilla and Ruiz who were walking by.

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Kelly then shot three other people, including his girlfriend, who was trying to stop him by calling 911.

He continued firing at officers when they arrived. An officer shot and arrested him.

In Feb. 2026, the Army took over prosecution of the case at the request of the Grant County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

Kelly will serve his sentence at the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.