The Infuriating Case of Chayson Colley
00:03 Jason Troy Colley was born on March 5th, 2011, in Aberdeen, Washington to parents Brannon Jones and Laura Elizabeth Collie. According to his maternal grandmother, Kathy Collie, Jason was my daughter's only child, our only grandson, our parents' only great-grandchild. His paternal grandparents Ron and Bobby Jones said that he was a vibrant two-year-old that loved to play with his trucks. He had a love of running and had a laugh that made you, giggle every time you heard it. He was mischievous but loving. He enjoyed carving pumpkins,
00:39 slides, and literally being a daredevil. He was curious about everything and thought he was he man as he picked up everything just to see if he could. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was Jason's favorite show and the hot diggedy dog song would get him on his feet and dancing. He loved his push cars and his toys along with any cell phone, laptop or tablet he could get his hands on. He also loved going out to Papa Ron's farm in his boots. You're recording yourself. What do you say? Like that?
01:10 Yeah. He's chasing. According to those who loved him, he loved chasing and being chased. He disliked bedtime because that was just not how he rolled. Like all boys, Chase and loved going outside, throwing rocks and running through puddles. He was a happy spirit with a full-bellied laugh when he really got going. He would talk and talk and talk, though. No one was really running.
01:43 really sure what he was saying. Jake Joseph Muska was born on March 5th, 1994. News outlets referred to him as an Arlington teen and said his Facebook page was filled with photos from his football career at Arlington High School. In 2012, Jake picked up two misdemeanor convictions in Marysville Municipal Court. The first was for third-degree theft from February of that year. The second was for violating an anti-harassment order in June. According to reports, Jake and Laura met in a substance.
02:13 use rehabilitation program and later moved in together. Jake said they met in December of 2012 and then by March of 2013 they had been dating for about two months. According to Jake, they had moved into the commencement terrace apartments in Tacoma, Washington about five weeks earlier, and Laura worked there as a leasing agent. Jake was unemployed. He said he looked after Chasen while Laura was at work. According to Jake, he and Jason got along great, but when Laura was home, Chasin's attention, understandably went to her. He said, Jason was a good kid who would act out when he didn't want to do something in that their usual discipline was a light slap on the hand or a timeout.
02:51 According to Laura, Jake had always promised to protect us no matter what the cost, to give Jason the father that he had always deserved. Jason truly seemed to love Jake. Jason was with open arms any time Jake was near. Laura's mother, Kathy, wrote that Jake appeared to be a man mature beyond his years, who loved my daughter and Jason. According to Jake, on the evening of Thursday, March 28th, he and Laura tried to brush Jason's teeth. He said Jason flailed and may have hit his head on the counter.
03:22 Jake said they took Jason out to the hallway where Laura gently laid him on the floor and held him in place with her knees while Jake brushed. He said Jason could still raise his head off the floor and bang it back down. Next day, Jake said Jason had more bruises than normal. He said Jason was quiet, acting shy and wasn't himself, and that he sat. and watch TV for most of the day. Jake said Chasen didn't complain about any pain and didn't seem sick. When to Jake, after Laura got home from work, they saw that some of the bruises seemed to be getting worse.
03:53 He said they called Jason's pediatrician and sent him a photo and were told to take Jason to the doctor if the bruises got worse. Jake said the photo also went to Laura's mom. Jake said he and Laura talked about taking Chase into a clinic but decided that he looked too bad and asked each other, are they going to think we'd did this. Bring to Jake, they decided to watch him and hold off on taking him to the doctor for the time being. That evening, Laura went out for her birthday. According to Jake, she went to McClary to celebrate with her family and her sister picked her up at about 6 p.m. Laura left
04:29 Jason and Jake's care and didn't come back until the next day. Jake said he and Jason left the building at the same time Laura did and went to the park. He said they came back and watched TV until about 10 p.m. when he got Chasen ready for bed. While they were watching TV, Jake said he poured himself Pepsi and vodka. He estimated the glass was 16 to 20 ounces with three to four shots of vodka inside. According to Jake, he set the glass on the window sill next to the couch where Chasin would have to stand on his tippy toes to reach it. Jake said he never saw Chasen drink from the glass, but he could only assume that he had. He said he'd only left the room for about three minutes. According to Jake, he and Jason then took a shower together.
05:15 While he was washing his own hair, he heard a thump in the tub. Said Jason had fallen and was crying, but that he couldn't find any bumps and that he seemed fine. Jake said that when he put Jason to bed, the little boy kept talking to himself, so Jake figured he wasn't going to sleep and got him back up. So they both watched TV and went to bed around midnight. Jake said Jason slept in his bed with Jake next to the wall and Jason in the middle of the bed. A while later, Jake said he heard a thumb. He said he got up and found Jason on the floor next to the bed.
05:46 Jake said he picked him up and he seemed fine. He said he saw no sign of a concussion that the little boy was not crying. Bring to Jake, his eyes were open and he was smiling and that expression allegedly never changed. Jake said he thought Jason was fine so he put him back to bed. Jake was laying down next to him, he said he put his hand on Jason's chest. He said he realized that he wasn't breathing. Jake said he grabbed him and his phone and ran downstairs, thinking someone in the lobby would be able to help. However, this is Jake's version of events.
06:19 A man named Ricky Saldavia had just stepped out of the locked department complex when he saw Jake in the lobby frantic and crying holding a child. Jake let Ricky back into the lobby. Jason was covered with bruises and Ricky called 911. Tacoma police responded at 407 a.m. Officers arrived. paramedics were already loading Chasen into an ambulance. Officer Kansuch found Jake in the passenger side. Walked back to the lobby where he asked Jake for his name. Who else lived in the apartment and whether they were in a relationship or not. When in the medical staff, Chasin was intubated
06:56 and in a major shock when he arrived at the hospital. His condition was described as catastrophically bad and that he had no significant signs of brain activity. Chasen was bruised from head to toe. who was bleeding in his brain and stomach, one of his lungs had collapsed, and there was bruising on his butt. According to doctors, his blood alcohol level on admission was 0.12. Jason was pronounced dead later that morning, March 30th, 2013, and he was just two years old. Jake was taken to the Tacoma Police Department where detectives Louise Nist and Brian Vold questioned him. About 8.30 a.m., Detective Nist read Jake as Miranda writes. Jake agreed to talk and later let the detectives record the second part of the conversation, which started at 10.29 a.m.
07:46 Jake told them Jason was a rambunctious child who fell a lot and bruised easily. Detectives later searched the apartment with a warrant and found a large number of used diapers and baby wipes that appeared to have blood on them. An autopsy was performed by Dr. J. Matthew Lacey, and it determined that Jason had suffered injuries too numerous to count with specifically fatal blows. to his head and torso. Or into Dr. Lacey, those injuries didn't fit a child just falling off a couch or inadvertently banging their head on a countertop. He also found serious injuries inside and outside Jason's body consistent with S.A. Pierce County Medical Examiner's office said Jason died from blunt force trauma to his head and stomach.
08:31 Jake was subsequently arrested on March 30, 2013 and held at the Pierce County Jail. At his first appearance on April 1st, he came into court wearing a turtle suit and kept his eyes on the ground. Deputy prosecuting attorney Phil Sorenson said, the jail has him classified a certain way, and he's wearing certain clothes to protect himself from himself. The judge set his bail at $1.5 million. On April 3rd, 2013, DPA Sorenson charged Jake with two crimes, first-degree murder and first-degree essay of a child. Both came with aggravating factors, including that Chason was particularly vulnerable
09:11 and that Jake's conduct showed deliberate cruelty. Jake pled not guilty. According to court records on August 13, 2013, the prosecution offered Jake a deal. He could plead guilty as charged. If he turned it down, the state would bump the charges up to aggravated first-degree murder, which could carry either death or life in prison without the possibility of parole. The offer was set to expire on August 30th. On August 29th, Jake told his attorneys, Richard Warner and Keith Hall, that he wanted to take it. He said yes with one day to spare.
09:50 On September 9th, 2013, Jake pled guilty to both counts. As part of his plea deal, Jake signed a written account of what he did. His attorney Richard Warner wrote out the language and Jake initialed it. In the murder count, Jake signed it. statement reads, in Pierce County, Washington, between 329-13 and 3.3013, I unlawfully and falloniously caused the death of C.C. Day to birth 3.511, a human being who was not a participant in such crime. CC was particularly vulnerable because he was only two years old and incapable of resisting, and my conduct was deliberately cruel. I had been drinking a lot and lost my
10:28 temper after he peed all over me when I was changing his diaper. So I picked him up and slain him into the floor. When he would not stop crying, I put my finger into his victim so my acts were done in the course of the crime of a child in the first degree, resulting in the death of C.C. A handwritten note added above Jake's statement reads, furthermore, the injuries suffered by C.C. exceeded the level of bodily harm necessary to satisfy the elements of this offense as C.C. had numerous injuries to his head, abdomen, victim, and C.C. severe bruising all over his body. Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said,
11:09 Nothing shocks the conscience, more than the murder of a child. We are asking the court for the functional equivalent of a life sentence. Jake would later withdraw this guilty plea. Jake was sentenced on November 21st, 2013, in front of Pierce County Superior Court, Judge Brian Shushkhov. Prosecutors asked for 60 years to life. Jake's lawyer asked for 25. Jason's family sent letters to the judge.
11:34 Kathy Calley asked for 120 years. She wrote, If Jake has asked for forgiveness, I believe God has forgiven him. I also believe Chason has forgiven him. God has called us to forgive him too. But justice still must be dispensed. According to reports,
11:52 Laura covered her ears and kept her head down in court so she would not have to hear the details. In her letter of the judge, she wrote, I now have to live the rest of my life without my beautiful son. and with the knowledge that I left my son in the hands of a monster. I hate myself every day for that fact. Jake spoke as well. He couldn't remember, according to him, Jason's death, the essay, or giving him alcohol.
12:20 He apologized to Laura saying, I just want to say I'm sorry. Not a single day goes by when I don't think about Jason and wish I could bring him back to his mother. Judge Shushkopf officially sentenced Jake to 600, in eight months, almost 51 years, on the murder count. In the child essay count, he gave him 258 months, about 21 and a half years, to life in prison, and the two sentences would run together.
12:46 According to reports that a Department of Corrections Board, they wouldn't even consider releasing Jake until he was at least 70 years old. Jake later filed a personal restraint petition, which is Washington State's way of challenging a conviction after the fact. He said his lawyers hadn't properly investigated his case or, explained his plea. The Court of Appeals sent the case back to the Superior Court for a hearing, which ran from October through December of 2016. That court found Jake's testimony wasn't credible. In July of 2017, the Court of Appeals dismissed his petition.
13:19 On April 27, 2022, Jake asked the court to throw out his judgment and sentence. His argument was that under Washington law, first-degree essay of a child can't be the basis for a first-degree felony murder charge. The state agreed that he was right. On February 13, 2023, the Washington Supreme Court sent the case back to Pierce County, stating, We are not deciding the proper remedy, but the personal restraint petition is remanded to the Superior Court for appointment of counsel and further proceedings in light of the state's concession of error. On March 30, 2023, Jake was taken back to the Pierce County Jail. The prosecution in the defense then discussed what remedy Jake wanted, including leaving his original plea and
14:06 sentence alone to avoid potential aggravated first-degree murder charges. On August 25, 2023, both sides agreed to let Jake withdraw his guilty pleas to both charges. He was arraigned on new charges that same day. Jake then tried to get the case dismissed on speedy trial grounds. Pierce County Superior Court Judge Karina Kirkendahl denied that motion in a October of 2023. Jake's case went to trial in March of 2025 in front of Pierce County Superior Court Judge Michael E. Schwartz. Deputy prosecuting attorneys Megan Winder and Emily Cox prosecuted the case and Kent Underwood represented Jake. March 13th, Judge Schwartz ruled that everything Jake
14:49 told detectives NIST and Vold in 2013 could be used against him at trial. Judge Schwartz told the jury pool, Chasin's death was classified by the medical examiner as a homicide. State was now charging Jake with 12 counts. Premeditated first-degree murder, first-degree felony murder, homicide by abyss, two counts of second-degree murder, first-degree essay of a child, second-degree essay, first-degree assault of a child, first-degree assault, first-degree criminal mistreatment, furnishing liquor to a minor, and second-degree assault with sexual motivation. Each count except the liquor charge carried at least four aggravating factors.
15:29 Those included that Chasen was particularly vulnerable, that Jake's conduct showed deliberate cruelty, that he used a position of trust, and that he displayed an egregious lack of remorse. During the state's rebuttal closing argument, prosecutors accidentally showed the jury a photo that had never been admitted into evidence. It showed blood on Chasen's hand, which had a band-aid on it and no visible injuries. Prosecutor had brought it up while arguing that Chasen tried to escape from Jake, alongside photos of suspect. blood on the inside of the apartment's front door. The judge had the photo taken down right away and told the jury to disregard it, along with the argument that went alongside it. Jake's lawyer asked for a mistrial. Judge Schwartz denied it, finding that the slip appeared to be an honest mistake, and noting that hundreds of photographs were marked in the case and hundreds of them
16:19 were admitted. On April 16, 2025, the jury reached its verdicts. In the premeditated murder count, the jury found Jake guilty of the lesser charge of first-degree manslaughter. The verdict form, that meant they either found him not guilty of premeditated murder or couldn't unanimously agree on it. Jake was found guilty on every other count. To convict Jake of homicide by abuse, the jury had to find that he had previously engaged in a pattern or practice of assault or torture of chasten. The jury also found the four aggravating factors charged on both of the counts,
16:56 would be sentenced on. After the verdict, Jake asked for a new trial and new counsel. In August of 2025, the judge denied both of these. By sentencing, Jake was representing himself with Kent Underwood as standby counsel. The day he was sentenced, the judge also denied another motion for a new trial. November 21st, 2025, 12 years to the day after his first sentencing, Jake was back in front of a judge. The state moved to vacate 10 of the 12 counts, leaving homicide by abyss and, first-degree essay of a child. According to reports, the other counts were vacated because of double jeopardy. DPA Winder told the court that a sentence within the standard range would not reflect how serious Jake's crimes were. She said, these injuries do not reflect impulse or panic. They reflect
17:44 intentional torture and conscious decision to inflict suffering upon Jason Colley. According to DPA Winder, a witness said that after Jason was put into the ambulance, he was shocked by how Jake went from crying to calm and talked about the death. She told the court, he nonchalantly said, it sucks it had to be a child instead of an old person that died, despite the fact that Jason was still alive at that point. Kathy Colley was back in court as well. The 2013 sentencing, she had stood before a judge and forgiven Jake.
18:17 This time, she shamed him for withdrawing his guilty plea and pridefully turning down a plea deal from prosecutors. She told Jake, he had turned into a jailhouse lawyer and that he had put his energy and brilliance into doing despicable things. Kathy said, And I'd also like an opportunity
18:34 to speak directly to Jake. Jake, we should not be here. What you've done is despicable. Despicable. Twelve years ago, you had a conscience. Twelve years ago, you pled guilty because you knew what you've done is wrong.
18:58 I hope you will do something good with the rest of your life. Shame on you. Shame on you for what you've done. I forgave you 12 years ago. I forgave you 12 years ago. I've got to forgive you over and over again. I'm so thankful to this court that they denied your pleas and the vacating, I hope that doesn't mean a leniency on you.
19:28 Okay? They offered you a plea deal that you didn't take, pridefully. You could have taken that plea deal and gone back to prison. I hope they double, double, triple the amount of time you were originally given. Jake asked for a sentence below the standard range. His argument was that the mitigating qualities of youth, including upbringing marred by drug addiction, childhood trauma, and the difficult circumstances of his environment had contributed to the events of the night. Jason was killed. Judge Schwartz declined to find that Chasen's death came from a rash or impulsive act,
20:05 brought on in part by Jake's youth and his intoxication. He said Jake was continuing to downplay his action, saying, he continues to claim it was due to an accidental flinging of Chasen in a suitcase that Mr. Muska claimed slipped out of his hands. His explanation for the case of Chason is what he testified to in trial, that he used a sock to wipe up diarrhea. and accidentally caused the injury to Chasen. Even more remarkably, in his mitigation package, he suggested that Chasen's mother might be responsible for those injuries. This refusal to accept responsibility and his lack of remorse
20:46 gives the court little hope that rehabilitation is in the cards for Mr. Muska or that he is capable of it. Here, the jury found unanimously, the aggravating circumstances applied to the facts that were proven in each count the court is sentencing on today. Counts three and six. Those aggravating circumstances include deliberate cruelty, that the victim was particularly vulnerable, that the defendant abused the position of trust,
21:18 and that the defendant demonstrated an egregious lack of remorse. Judge Schwartz sentenced Jake to 1,200 months on the homicide by abuse count. That's 100 years in prison. On the child essay count, he gave him the same 100 years up to life with the sentences running together. That doubled his original sentence, carmic justice. If he's ever released, Jake will be in community custody until he dies and he can never contact Jason's family. Jake filed the notice of appeal that same day. And as of March of 26, that appeal was pending in the Washington Court of Appeals.
21:57 As of January 26, Washington Department of Corrections records showed Jake in custody at Stafford Creek Corrections Center. In their 2013 letters to the court, Jason's family wrote about what his death had done to them. Laura wrote, by trusting one man in a single night, I lost my son, who was my one true love. Instead of sleeping by his side, I get to sleep with his slippers and t-shirts. Instead of hugging and kissing him, I get to visit his grave. Laura wrote a letter to Chasen and read it at his funeral. It said in part, to my beloved son, Jason. My favorite part of the day was at the end of the day when we were both so tired and we would
22:41 lay together with your hand in mind and you would look up at me and smile and grab my face with both your hands and kiss me. And you would say, love you, and I'd say it back. It felt so good to be loved by you. You are my every reason for being. No matter how long, bad, or rough the day was, when I would hear you laugh, everything became good again. It was true bliss being with you.
23:07 My heart will ache every day until we are together again. Chase and Troy Colley is buried at Masonic Cemetery in Alma, Washington. His simple headstone etched with a cherub and some small flowers reads, remembering you is easy. We do it every day. It's the heartache of losing you that will never go away.
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