By Derek Spellman
dspellman@joplinglobe.com
MOUNT VERNON, Mo. — Ever since their daughter’s death, the Murphy family has sought answers and apologies.
Some answers still elude them.
Jan Murphy remains in the dark as to why no one called an ambulance, or took her daughter to the hospital when it was only two blocks away. Jessica Murphy, 18, was found dead of alcohol poisoning March 4, 2007, after a party at the home of several Monett men the night before.
Perhaps two dozen people attended the party at one point. A number of them watched Brandon K. Himes pour a half of a fifth of vodka and a half of a fifth of tequila, along with an unknown amount of beer, into a beer bong that fed into Jessica Murphy’s mouth.
More than two years later, few have come forward to explain what happened.
But the Murphys did get an apology on Friday.
Not long after his apology, Himes, 24, formerly of Monett, was sentenced in Lawrence County Circuit Court to four years in prison for second-degree involuntary manslaughter. He had pleaded guilty to the charge in March.
The Murphys had sought — and ultimately obtained — the maximum penalty.
“You can’t imagine how much I miss my little girl,” Jan Murphy told Himes during his sentencing hearing.
“You get to go to holidays, birthdays,” she told him later. “I get to go to the graveyard.”
‘Sick’ and ‘wrong’
Jan Murphy was one of eight family members who spoke during Himes’ hearing, calling for a steep prison sentence while delivering emotional and often blistering testimony.
Tasha Shaner, Jessica Murphy’s cousin, questioned why Himes didn’t take Murphy to the hospital after feeding her the alcohol.
“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
“It was good that he did that,” Jan Murphy said after the hearing, of Himes’ apology.
Still, she said, she didn’t understand why no one at the party could not have called an ambulance or just dropped off her daughter at the hospital. Patrick Murphy, Jessica’s father, said people at the party have been reluctant to come forward because they do not want to get into trouble.
“It just took one person in that house,” Jan Murphy said. “Just one. Everybody chose not to help her.”
Additional sentence
Brandon Himes on Friday also was assessed one year in jail for a misdemeanor count of supplying liquor to a minor (Jessica Murphy). The case against him was in Lawrence County on a change of venue from Barry County.
