|
|
|
| Tue, Dec. 01 - - Mobile - RSS | |
|
|
Dad gets life sentence in daughter's murder
Reynolds sentenced to life in prison
Date published: 8/28/2008 BY ELLEN BILTZ The Partlow man who shot his 13-year-old daughter in the back of the head on the family's front porch last year, will spend the rest of his life in prison. Earl Wayne "Butch" Reynolds, 45, testified during his sentencing hearing yesterday that he doesn't remember the argument leading up to his daughter's death or the moment when he fatally shot Kayla Reynolds. "I don't remember any of that. That's what hurts so bad. I wouldn't do that," Earl Reynolds said through tears. At points during yesterday's hearing in Spotsylvania Circuit Court, those speaking had to pause because Reynolds was sobbing uncontrollably. Judge David H. Beck gave Reynolds a life sentence on the first-degree murder conviction, as well as three years on a firearms conviction and 20 years with 10 suspended on a conviction of malicious wounding for shooting his stepdaughter, Amber Barnett, in the neck. "The court does not find you to be a demon," Beck said just before announcing the sentence, acknowledging Reynolds' sincerity in apologizing for his crimes. "But what you did was demonic and horrific." Reynolds was charged last Aug. 21 after Kayla was shot in the back of the head on the porch of the mobile home where the family lived. Barnett was shot just before Kayla and testified yesterday that after the bullet hit her in the early hours of the morning, she dropped to the porch and played dead. Just after she was hit, she said, she heard Kayla's last three words: "No Daddy, no." Then she heard a gunshot and Kayla fell to the ground as Reynolds ran from the yard, she said. Barnett testified that she and Kayla had been arguing with their father about his drug and alcohol abuse and that angered him. Reynolds said yesterday that he had been drinking all day until around 10 or 11 p.m. Aug. 20, when Barnett said the argument began. He said he doesn't remember any of the fight or shooting the two girls at about 1 a.m. He turned himself in to the police soon after they responded to the home that morning, Spotsylvania Detective Twyla DeMoranville testified yesterday. She said Kayla died instantly from the single shot to her head. DeMoranville told the court that she went to Kayla's autopsy, where she observed a girl who had apparent bad hygiene and scars from self-mutilation.
Read more stories about Spotsylvania Date published: 8/28/2008
another drunken mishap
(posted by
My3CentsWorth
, Aug. 28, 2008 11:41 pm)
when we people learn that alcohol and drugs, either alone or in combination only lead to heartache and misery within the family? Its sad that so many people feel substances can "solve" their problems. He started out having a few beers, and in the end he was relying on alcohol and drugs to get through his days. So sad that so many children must suffer because of the selfish adults who should never had had kids in the first place. May she rest in peace, because I doubt she saw much peace here on earth
it's just sad...
(posted by
theobc
, Aug. 28, 2008 12:47 pm)
this man was never able to get beyond the hardships in his life and he turned to drugs and alcohol for comfort. the only thing good that can come of this tragic loss is that if someone else you is also thinking about going down that road or who is at a crossroads and need to get away from that lifestyle will see this and make a change so what happened to kayla doesn't happen to another family. i believe that the father probably wouldn't have killed his daughter had he been sober - HAD HE BEEN SOBER.
Goldie, I agree with your post. Killing in a drunken rage
(posted by
pinkphantom
, Aug. 28, 2008 11:50 am)
is not the same as what happened to the delivery driver. Mandrake, your commment about the ABC store is ridiculous. The sad thing is that the signs were there to remove this girl from her horrible home and it was not done. This kind of tragedy happens far too often.
Cool your jets, mos, it's still early...
(posted by
travelin_bone
, Aug. 28, 2008 10:33 am)
Another DSS screw up. I feel true sympathy for few people and this child is one of them. She was truly failed by those who were in a position to protect her. His addictions are NO excuse, it's only an example of how he neglected her in the years before her death. Capital punishment laws need to be expanded to include those who murder a minor. He shot a pregnant woman for pete's sake!
Where's all the FredTalk bloggers???
(posted by
mos
, Aug. 28, 2008 9:04 am)
Where are all the FredTalk bloggers' comments for this girl's murder, and an attempted murder. Remember all your comments pertaining to the chinese deliveryman's brutal murder. Is this girl's death somehow not worth commenting. Doesn't she deserve some of your insightfulness? What's the fix here? Does "no comment" signify sentencing approval? Food for thought, huh.
|
 |
|||
|
|||
