‘I hope it haunts him for the rest of his days’: Killer of Ravensdale father sentenced to 24 years in prison

Dozens of people packed a courtroom in Kent wearing green, many of them in shirts printed with: “Live like Nick.”

They were there to remember Nick Valison and witness the sentencing of his killer.

Ravensdale father killed in September

Valison, a 53-year-old father of two, was walking his dog in his rural Ravensdale neighborhood on the morning of September 21, 2023, when his wife called him to tell him she thought a group of people might be illegally dumping trash.

According to witnesses who spoke to police, trash had been an increasing problem in the woods nearby. They said Valison alerted neighbors and went to check it out.

One of them knew something was wrong when they saw Valison’s dog wandering loose. He checked the woods and found Valison lying on the ground, unresponsive, with blood coming out of his ears and mouth.

Investigators would later piece together that Valison had confronted a group in a stolen truck driven by 39-year-old Andrew Baim, who revved and rolled the vehicle toward Valison in an effort to get away. Valison went down. The truck went over. First responders pronounced him dead at the scene.

Driver of stolen truck arrested two months later

Detectives said Baim sped away and set fire to the truck to try to hide the evidence. Still, the investigation linked that truck and arson to Baim, and he was arrested two months later.

He pleaded not guilty, but in September of this year, Baim was convicted of second-degree murder, second-degree arson, and two counts of possession of a stolen vehicle.

The 39-year-old entered the courtroom with hands cuffed behind his back, sitting slumped and looking down as he waited to hear whether he would get out of prison in his 50s or his 60s — his fate determined by whether a judge would accept the prosecutor’s recommendation of the high end of the sentencing range or take mitigating factors like a rocky family life and drug use into account.

Andrew Baim, 39, appeared in court to await sentencing for killing Nick Valison. (Photo: Jillian Raftery, KIRO Newsradio)

Friends, family, and the detective on the case all asked for the maximum sentence.

“Andrew Baim is dangerous. Please do everything you can to not let him hurt another family. I am asking for the maximum sentence,” Anna Marie Clayhold, Valison’s sister, said.

The defendant was slumped, looking down throughout the victim impact statements from Clayhold, a detective, and a close friend. But he sat up as Valison’s widow, Tanie, spoke.

“I had the privilege to be married to him for 29 years. There are not enough words to explain to this courtroom what the actions of this defendant have done and the ripple effect,” she said.

Voice monotone and rushed, the defendant stood and apologized to the Valison family, calling what happened a terrible mistake.

Baim was sentenced to 24 years in prison.

Nick Valison’s widow: ‘He deserved every ounce of justice’

After the hearing, Tanie said Baim got exactly what he deserved.

“Nothing short of bringing Nick back will make this right. But he deserves every ounce of justice,” she said.

Tanie emphasized that Baim’s actions don’t only affect her, but her entire family.

“I hope it haunts him for the rest of his days,” she said.