Judge sought assurance that murderer would never ‘walk among us’
By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, The Times
Laquanta Chapman, 33, of Coatesville, received a death-penalty sentence for the 2004 murder of Aaron Turner, a 16-year-old neighbor.
“You are evil and not fit to walk among us; that’s all I have to say,” a Chester County judge told a teen’s killer before imposing a death sentence plus a consecutive 85- to 170-year prison term on Friday.
Judge William P. Mahon prefaced his remarks by explaining the rationale behind his longstanding practice of offering verbal guidance to convicts in hopes that they will “turn themselves around.” For Laquanta Chapman, 33, found guilty last month of the first-degree murder of Aaron Turner, a 16-year-old neighbor, Mahon said he saw no rehabilitative opportunity.
Mahon said he considered the callous way in which Chapman disrobed and humiliated Turner before shooting him, cutting him up with a chainsaw, and disposing of his body like trash, as well as the numerous other offenses for which he was convicted, including drug and firearms violations and animal cruelty. “If there ever was a case in which you deserved to be sentenced to the maximum, I haven’t seen it until now,” Mahon said.
The judge agreed with the recommendation from Chief Deputy District Attorney Patrick Carmody that making the sentences consecutive would ensure that Chapman would never be freed “if, for some reason, the death penalty is overturned.”
Aaron Turner, who would have turned 20 on Monday, was killed when he was 16. His grieving relatives said they will celebrate his birthday.
One of Chapman’s two attorneys, J. Michael Farrell, extended sympathies to Turner’s relatives on behalf of the Chapman family. Chapman’s mother, grandmother, and step-father attended the proceeding. Farrell said the case will be appealed. He expressed hope that the death-penalty – which he termed an expensive, discriminatory practice that fails to make the public safer – would eventually be abolished.
Chapman, who did not address the court, registered no emotion during the judge’s commentary – or during the grief-stricken speeches made by three of Turner’s grandparents. Turner’s mother, Angeline Blaylock, was not present because she was attending the funeral of her husband’s mother, Carmody said.
All three grandparents spoke of the enormity of their loss and their struggle to forgive Chapman so they can move forward.
Geraldine Turner said the four years since Turner’s death have been devastating for the family. “It’s a nightmare,” she said, adding that she remembered welcoming the Chapman family into the neighborhood some years ago. “I reached out to them,” she said tearfully. She said her family had tried hard to keep her grandson out of harm’s way. “Unfortunately, he ran into some bad, bad people,” she said. “We raised him right; he just took a wrong path.”
According to testimony, the high-profile case began Oct. 30, 2008, when Turner, who had been working to get back on track after a drug offense, failed to show up at the community center to perform some court-ordered community service. Chapman became a suspect after police executed a search warrant in a drug probe on Nov. 15, 2008, and found weapons, drugs, blood-stained clothing, and trash bags with mutilated pitbull remains. Aided by DNA evidence, investigators eventually concluded that Chapman shot and killed Turner over a drug dispute.
Geraldine Turner said she appreciated the efforts of police, prosecutors, the judge, and the jury to dispense justice, and now she wants to find forgiveness. “I just pray that God soften our hearts,” she said, adding that their grandson would have turned 20 on Monday.
Claude E. Turner, the teen’s grandfather, said he felt sorrow for the Chapman family. He said he had prayed for the strength to forgive Chapman and had been unable to muster it. But before he left he podium, he turned to Chapman and said: “I forgive you. It’s hard. It’s hard because I know you.”
The jury’s unanimous decision that Chapman be put to death for his crimes marked the first time since 1993 that the death penalty has been imposed in Chester County. Even more unusual was the fact that two jurors attended Friday’s hearing, more than a month after the trial ended. One said that others would have come if their schedules had permitted it.
After the hearing, Chapman’s mother, Cynthia Chapman Graves, described herself as too numb to comment. Chapman’s stepfather, Charles Graves, expressed condolences to Turner’s relatives. “Both families lost here,” he said, shaking his head. “We’re sorry for what happened … They lost, and we lost, too.”
