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Man assessed sentence in teen’s alcohol death
“That’s sick, and it’s wrong,” Shaner said. “Honestly, I don’t think it (Murphy’s death) affected him enough.”
Jennifer Murphy, Jessica’s 10-year-old sister, told Himes: “She (Jessica) was my favorite sister. You hurt me really bad.”
In arguing for the maximum prison sentence, Barry County Prosecutor Johnnie Cox cited both the family’s wishes and Himes’ record of breaching the conditions of his probation for a previous drug charge.
“We already know what Brandon Himes will or won’t do on probation,” Cox said, calling Himes’ record “poor.”
‘I understand’
Himes’ defense attorney, John Lewright, pointed out that two of the three people who were occupants of the house where Murphy died were there during the party.
Those two occupants — Joseph H. Rattles and Dennis Meinke — were only charged with 10 misdemeanor counts apiece for allowing underage drinking, even though they owned the house, the beer bong and the liquor, Lewright said. Himes, Lewright said, did not live at the house and only attended the party for about an hour and a half.
The attorney also contended that Jessica Murphy had reportedly asked others to take her to the hospital, although no one would.
Lewright asked the court for a “community-structured sentence” that would impose an intensely supervised probation with strict conditions. Specifically, Lewright asked that Himes be allowed to complete a yearlong drug-rehabilitation program he recently entered at Church Army USA at Nixa.
Himes’ entrance into that program signaled he “has adjusted his life,” Lewright said, although Cox countered that Himes did not enter the program until after he pleaded guilty to the manslaughter charge.
Himes’ family and friends said they had seen a change in Himes, noting that he also struggled with the death of his 18-year-old brother to a drowning accident in June 2007.
“I just want to say to Jessica’s family (that) I understand what you’re going through,” Vicki Himes, Brandon Himes’ mother, said. “I’ve nothing but compassion for you.”
Vicki Himes said her son “is remorseful” about Jessica Murphy’s death and a “different person” since he entered Church Army.
Brandon Himes, for his part, told the Murphy family that “I just want to apologize to all of you guys from the bottom of my heart.”
Aftermath
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