YAKIMA COUNTY, Wash. — In a stunning sworn court declaration filed in Irving Brown Sr. v. Theresa Jo Hancock, Sunnyside City Councilmember Theresa Hancock’s estranged son, Jeffrey Christopher Trammel, accuses his mother of years of racist remarks and troubling behavior — statements that have now become part of the public record in Yakima County Superior Court.
The Declaration of Christopher Trammel, filed August 25, 2025, as part of a harassment case in which petitioner Irving Brown Sr. obtained a restraining order, details why Trammel says he cut ties with his mother. “I can attest that Theresa Hancock is a racist,” he wrote, describing multiple incidents of racial slurs and comments about Black people dating back years.
According to the filing, Trammel recalled a 2017 football game in which Hancock shouted, “Stop [n-word] it up,” a 2016 episode where she allegedly called his sister a “jiggaboo” for wearing hoop earrings, and a Thanksgiving 2023 conversation where she and her father were “counting the Black people in commercials.”
Trammel also said Hancock repeatedly ignored his and his wife’s requests not to post photos of their child online, and that she aligned herself politically with Kenton Gartrell, a Yakima-area figure previously cited in press reports and U.S. Soccer Federation records for inappropriate conduct.
“I do not believe Theresa should be in public office, given her extreme and problematic personal views that she is unable to separate from her professional life,” Trammel stated under penalty of perjury.
Estranged Son Speaks Out Online
Posts from a Facebook account bearing Trammel’s name have echoed the same themes. In public comment threads under the Sunnyside Sun and What’s Up Sunnyside pages, he identified himself as Hancock’s son and accused her of manipulating allies and spreading division.
One post read:
“Mr. Bridges, I know you feel loyalty to Theresa for fighting Vlieger and crew when they were causing unnecessary drama. But she will only use you.”
In another, he warned that Hancock was “buddying up to Kenton Gartrell who in the past threatened my family,” and linked to a Yakima Herald article outlining prior allegations against Gartrell.
Pattern of Controversy
Hancock has faced criticism before. A prior Sunnyside Sun story described a confrontation in which she was accused of bullying a fellow community member, an incident that stirred debate over her conduct in public office.
The new declaration from her own son adds a deeply personal dimension to Hancock’s ongoing controversies as Sunnyside’s political climate remains tense heading into the city’s next leadership cycle.
Court Record
The declaration is filed under Case No. 25-2-01689-39, Irving Brown Sr. v. Theresa Jo Hancock, in Yakima County Superior Court.
Filed by Martin Davis PLLC on August 25, 2025; attorney Benjamin F. York signed the certificate of service to Garrison Law Offices P.S., counsel for Hancock.
