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Man who murdered missionary student gets 27 years — and victim’s family’s forgiveness

By Phil Ferolito, Yakima Herald-Republic
Published: March 30, 2018, 11:30am

YAKIMA — The mother of slain Tieton missionary student Trae Oyler offered a New Testament Bible to her son’s killer during a sentence hearing Thursday in Yakima County Superior Court.

The Bible, handed to a judge so he would give it to Saul Llamas Rios, was among Oyler’s personal belongings, which his mother received after his death.

“Would you assure that (Rios) gets this?” Jane Oyler asked Judge David Elofson. “I know that’s what Trae would have wanted.”

Oyler told Rios she forgives him, something she finds herself having to do every day.

“My forgiveness means little if you don’t seek God’s forgiveness,” she said tearfully.

Trae Oyler, 20, was returning from youth ministry services with fellow missionary students on Oct. 26, 2016, when Rios — enraged from an earlier dispute with his girlfriend — fired three shots into the car in which Trae Oyler was riding as he passed by on Rozenkranz Road halfway between Naches and Tieton. One bullet struck Trae Oyler in the neck, killing him. His three friends were unharmed.

On Thursday, Rios, who earlier this month pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, was sentenced in a Yakima County jail basement courtroom to 27 years in prison.

More than 35 family and friends, some from California and Oregon as well as the Tieton missionary school, filled the courtroom, where words of forgiveness and hope for Rios, 29, were voiced. Trae Oyler’s parents, Jane and Ken, traveled from their Waynesboro, Pa., home to the hearing, where they said they believed spreading the word of Jesus to Rios is what their son would have wanted.

“I don’t know where your family is, but they’re going to miss you just like we miss Trae,” Ken Oyler told Rios.

Letters from family and a friend who was with Trae Oyler the night of his death were read to Rios, who sat quietly but appeared to listen intently.

In the letters, Trae Oyler was described as loving popcorn, wearing his sandals — even in 32-degree weather — and being passionate about helping others, especially those who were hurting.

“He had a deeper passion than I did,” Ken Oyler said of his son. “I wish he would have been able to have met Saul before the night that Saul pulled that trigger.”

Ken Oyler said the family continues to pray for Rios.

“We don’t need to pray for Trae anymore — we know where he is,” Ken Oyler said. He likened Rios to Saul in the book of Acts in the Bible, a man who had long persecuted Christians only to eventually change and became a follower of Christ.

“I know that there are people in this room that would be willing to talk to Saul about God,” he said. “Because I know that’s what Trae would want.”

Forgiving is ongoing for the family, Ken Oyler said.

“Our family is figuring out that forgiveness is a process,” he said. “There’s no victory here.”

Elofson described the hearing as unique of all those he’d been involved in.

“This is a family of incredible strength and faith,” he said to Rios. “They spoke directly to you and I only heard kindness. I don’t think I have ever been in a hearing quite like this.”

Hours later, during a video visit with a Yakima Herald-Republic reporter, Rios held up the same small Bible and said he intends to follow the wishes of Trae Oyler’s family.

“I don’t know if they’re going to let me take this into prison,” he said of the Bible that once belonged to Trae Oyler. “I’m going to seek God’s forgiveness.”

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