{"id":3490,"date":"2012-12-21T14:34:36","date_gmt":"2012-12-21T19:34:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=3490"},"modified":"2012-12-21T14:36:48","modified_gmt":"2012-12-21T19:36:48","slug":"evil-killer-gets-death-sentence-plus-85-to-140-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=3490","title":{"rendered":"‘Evil’ killer gets death sentence plus 85 to 170 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Judge sought assurance that murderer would never ‘walk among us’<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

By Kathleen Brady Shea<\/span><\/strong>, Managing Editor, The Times<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Laquanta Chapman, 33, of Coatesville, received a death-penalty sentence for the 2004 murder of Aaron Turner, a 16-year-old neighbor.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cYou are evil and not fit to walk among us; that\u2019s all I have to say,\u201d a Chester County judge told a teen\u2019s killer before imposing a death sentence plus a consecutive 85- to 170-year prison term on Friday.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cturn themselves around.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

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. \u201cIf there ever was a case in which you deserved to be sentenced to the maximum, I haven\u2019t seen it until now,\u201d Mahon said.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cif, for some reason, the death penalty is overturned.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Aaron Turner, who would have turned 20 on Monday, was killed when he was 16. His grieving relatives said they will celebrate his birthday.<\/p><\/div>\n

One of Chapman\u2019s two attorneys, J. Michael Farrell, extended sympathies to Turner\u2019s relatives on behalf of the Chapman family. Chapman\u2019s mother, grandmother, and step-father attended the proceeding. Farrell said the case will be appealed. He expressed hope that the death-penalty \u2013 which he termed an expensive, discriminatory practice that fails to make the public safer – would eventually be abolished.<\/p>\n

Chapman, who did not address the court, registered no emotion during the judge\u2019s commentary \u2013 or during the grief-stricken speeches made by three of Turner\u2019s grandparents.\u00a0 Turner\u2019s mother, Angeline Blaylock, was not present because she was attending the funeral of her husband\u2019s mother, Carmody said.<\/p>\n

All three grandparents spoke of the enormity of their loss and their struggle to forgive Chapman so they can move forward.<\/p>\n

Geraldine Turner said the four years since Turner\u2019s death have been devastating for the family. \u201cIt\u2019s a nightmare,\u201d she said, adding that she remembered welcoming the Chapman family into the neighborhood some years ago. \u201cI reached out to them,\u201d she said tearfully. She said her family had tried hard to keep her grandson out of harm\u2019s way. \u201cUnfortunately, he ran into some bad, bad people,\u201d she said. \u201cWe raised him right; he just took a wrong path.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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. \u201cI just pray that God soften our hearts,\u201d she said, adding that their grandson would have turned 20 on Monday.<\/p>\n

Claude E. Turner, the teen\u2019s 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: \u201cI forgive you. It\u2019s hard. It\u2019s hard because I know you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The jury\u2019s 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\u2019s hearing, more than a month after the trial ended. One said that others would have come if their schedules had permitted it.<\/p>\n

After the hearing, Chapman\u2019s mother, Cynthia Chapman Graves, described herself as too numb to comment. Chapman\u2019s stepfather, Charles Graves, expressed condolences to Turner\u2019s relatives. \u201cBoth families lost here,\u201d he said, shaking his head. \u201cWe\u2019re sorry for what happened \u2026 They lost, and we lost, too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Judge sought assurance that murderer would never ‘walk among us’ By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, The Times \u201cYou are evil and not fit to walk among us; that\u2019s all I have to say,\u201d a Chester County judge told a teen\u2019s killer before imposing a death sentence plus a consecutive 85- to 170-year prison term […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[1054,1132,1066,1271,1120,1130,1052],"class_list":["post-3490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-aaron-turner","tag-angeline-blaylock","tag-chief-deputy-district-attorney-patrick-carmody","tag-cynthia-chapman-graves","tag-j-michael-farrell","tag-judge-william-p-mahon","tag-laquanta-chapman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}