COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The mother of an Ohio teen says prison is not the right place for her daughter’s boyfriend, who has pleaded guilty to accidentally killing the girl.
The Columbus Dispatch reports (https://bit.ly/2q5XddU ) Thomas Gutierrez was sentenced to six years in prison on Tuesday, despite a request for leniency from the deceased girl’s mother. Gutierrez could be eligible for early release after 3 ½ years as part of a plea deal.
The girl’s mother, Darian Newman, of Hilliard, said she worries prison might turn the 19-year-old into “something he wasn’t already.”
Prosecutors say Gutierrez was ejecting and reinserting the gun’s magazine, cleaning the rounds and “generally playing” with the gun when it fired, killing 17-year-old Daylee Newman last year in Columbus.
Gutierrez declined to speak at the sentencing.
___
Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, https://www.dispatch.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.