Matthew Fischer was a sixteen year old from South Carolina who would stab to death a romantic rival. According to court documents Matthew Fischer was hanging out with his girlfriend when the victim texted her. Fisher would start an online confrontation and demanded the victim come over to his girlfriends home so they can settle it. When the victim showed up the two teenagers began to fight before the teen killer pulled out a knife and fatally stabbed the other teenager. Matthew Fischer would be arrested shortly after and plead guilty to manslaughter and be sentenced to eighteen years in prison
Matthew Fischer 2023 Information
Matthew Fischer
Location – Kirkland Correctional Institute
Release Date – 01/25/2033
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A Snapchat message led to a fatal stabbing in South Carolina on Sunday, Mount Pleasant police say.
Matthew Fischer, 16, was visiting his girlfriend when she received a message from 17-year-old Lucas Bennett Cavanaugh, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by PEOPLE. Messages sent via the Snapchat app are only visible for a brief period of time.
Matthew Fischer then used his girlfriend’s device to respond to Cavanaugh, allegedly writing “Come over” and “I’ll kill you, man,” the affidavit reads.
Cavanaugh got in his Volkswagen Jetta and drove to the girl’s home in an upscale suburban neighborhood, where the two boys got into a fight.
Matthew Fischer allegedly pulled a knife and fatally stabbed the 17-year-old in the torso, according to the affidavit. He fled the scene immediately afterwards.
When police arrived, they found Robynn Davis, the mother of the suspect’s girlfriend, comforting the victim as he took his last breaths, according to an incident report provided to PEOPLE.
After fleeing, Matthew Fischer called his mother, who picked him up and took him back to the scene of the crime, where he was taken into custody and read his Miranda rights, the affidavit states.
Davis told local paper The Post and Courier that she “loved and adored” Cavanaugh, one of her daughter’s closest friends.
“He meant the world to me,” she said. “The world was a better place with him in it.”
Fischer has been charged with murder. Though he is just 16, he is being charged as an adult due to the violent nature of the crime.
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As his attorneys stuck to his self-defense account, a 19-year-old from Mount Pleasant who typed text messages about murder before slicing a schoolmate to death was sentenced Wednesday to 18 years in prison for what some called a ruthless crime.
Matthew Fischer was 16 when he stabbed 17-year-old Lucas Cavanaugh during a feud over Fischer’s girlfriend in the town’s Park West neighborhood.
Though Fischer argued he was trying to get out of Cavanaugh’s grasp during a mutual fight — a story that had already failed to prompt a dismissal of his murder charge — prosecutors cited messages in which he talked about killing Cavanaugh a week before the Jan. 18, 2015 slaying.
Avoiding a trial, he pleaded guilty earlier this month to a lesser count of voluntary manslaughter, which carries between two and 30 years behind bars.
During a tearful two-hour sentencing hearing in a packed Charleston courtroom, Circuit Judge Markley Dennis noted Fischer’s youth and mental health struggles at the time of the killing. He said Fischer would need continued help during and after the prison sentence to ensure he “doesn’t slip back into the person he was.”
“It wasn’t self-defense,” Dennis said. “He didn’t need to do it.”
Under state law, Fischer must served 85 percent, or about 15 years, of the total prison term.
Moments before learning his fate, the young defendant turned briefly to dozens of Cavanaugh’s loved ones who had described a widely loved young man who aspired to design cars and start his own business.
Fischer apologized. His father Joey and mother Susan had done the same
I regret it every day,” he said. “I don’t know what I can say. I’m just really sorry.”
Members of Cavanaugh’s family had asked for Fischer to be imprisoned for the maximum term.
“Whatever happens,” his father, Dave Cavanaugh, said, “there will be no justice for Luke. Luke is still dead.”
The three teens involved in the deadly confrontation knew each other from Wando High School.
Fischer was visiting his girlfriend on Baltusrol Lane when she got text messages from Cavanaugh. She would later tell police the texts were sent through Snapchat, a service whose messages disappear after a time. The account proved wrong, and investigators from the Mount Pleasant Police Department found the Apple iPod messages.
Fischer grew angry and jealous, but Cavanaugh insisted that he wouldn’t steal the girlfriend.
“I’ll … kill you,” Fischer texted, taking over the conversation. “Come here right now.”
Cavanaugh drove from Sullivan’s Island to Mount Pleasant.
Defense attorneys continued Wednesday to portray Cavanaugh as the aggressor who charged after Fischer once he arrived.
They fought.
One of Fischer’s lawyers, Peter Brown, said Cavanaugh wrapped Fischer in a headlock. That’s when Fischer pulled out a pocketknife that his girlfriend had given him and sliced at Cavanaugh’s arm, Brown said. Cuts on the sleeve of Cavanaugh’s sweater supported the account, the lawyer said.
The last, fatal blow was a stab to Cavanaugh’s gut. His last sight, his loved ones said, was likely of his own gruesome injury.
Lead defense attorney Andy Savage said Fischer should have kicked and flailed to suppress the “threat” he saw in Cavanaugh.
But he “used a knife in self-defense,” Savage said, “when a knife was not appropriate.”
Prosecutors said earlier text messages expressing thoughts of violence and ill will against Cavanaugh showed that he had carried out malicious intentions that had been brewing for some time.
“Obviously, he had a dark and disturbed side,” Assistant Solicitor Jennifer Shealy said at the sentencing. “He thought of murdering people.”
For more than an hour, Cavanaugh’s supporters describing losing an old soul who had friends young and old, gay and straight, black and white — a remarkable diversity for someone his age. He fixed cars by watching YouTube videos and wanted to earn a college degree in automotive design.
His friends and family miss his dinosaur sounds, his mischievous sense of humor.
One friend turned to drugs to cope with the loss.
His youngest brother, Dirk, still sleeps on Cavanaugh’s bedroom floor.
“He’s irreplaceable,” the brother said.
To remember him, they made quilts of his shirts.
“We have cried years’ worth of tears,” his mother, Beth Cavanaugh, said. “To say our lives will never be the same is an understatement.”
Cavanaugh would have turned 20 years old on Thanksgiving. His father looked around that day, thankful for the family, including two other sons, he still has.
“There’s nothing like having something ripped away from you to make you appreciative for what you have,” he said. “But there’s a huge undercurrent of melancholy and despair.”
New details have emerged in the case against Matthew Fischer, the 16-year-old Wando High School student, who is charged for stabbing his classmate after a fight that allegedly started over a girl on social media.
We were originally told that the victim, 17-year-old Lucas Cavanaugh, was sending messages to the suspect’s girlfriend on Snapchat, which is an app that deletes the message right after it is read.
But after digging through dozens of additional police reports that we just obtained today, we now know the teens were texting using iMessage, which is the standard texting application on an iPhone.
The big difference here is the messages aren’t deleted, and the girlfriend involved in all of this lied to police.
In police reports obtained by News 2, the suspect and Cavanaugh exchanged words, but not on Snapchat as we originally thought…instead on an iPod. Newer models of iPods, such as an iPod Touch, allow users to send messages on iMessage.
According to newly released police documents, that iPod, belonging to the girlfriend of the suspect, went missing after the stabbing incident.
The day after the incident, police told her that iPod was a crucial piece of evidence in a homicide case. The girl then handed it over, telling police that she had hid it under boxes and blankets.
According to the documents, she thought police wouldn’t be able to retrieve the messages if they were on Snapchat.
Fischer explained the texts between him and Cavanaugh to police….
Fischer asks, “Could you stay out of our relationship and shut the **** up” to which Cavanaugh responded, “You won’t say that to my face.”
When Cavanaugh did show up, Fischer told police he ran towards him and a fight began.
Fischer says Cavanaugh put him in a choke hold and when he was released from that chokehold, choke holden he pulled out a 3 inch pocket knife and stabbed Cavanaugh.
Tonight News 2 went to the home of the girlfriend, which is where this all happened.
We spoke with the girl’s mother who held Lucas in her arms in the moments after the stabbing.
The mother didn’t want to go on camera Monday but she did tell us her daughter was caught in the middle of her best friend and her boyfriend and it’s an extremely difficult situation. She also told us she doesn’t know why her daughter hid the iPod.
According to the reports, she said, the iPod contained nude photos and pictures of marijuana.
Tonight, News 2 also reached out to the suspect’s attorney, Andy Savage, to ask whether he will use the stand-your-ground philosophy when this case goes to trial. News 2 didn’t receive a call back just yet, but we’ll continue to follow this story in the coming days.
Fischer is currently at home on house arrest.
Right now, his first court appearance is scheduled for May 29th.
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Matthew Fischer 2021
Matthew Fisher is currently incarcerated at the Kirkland Correctional Institute
Dakota Thornton was fifteen years old from Pennsylvania when he murdered his older brother. According to court documents Dakota Thornton was in love with his brother’s girlfriend so he figured the best way to deal with it was to kill his brother. This teen killer would fatally shoot his brother with a shotgun. Once police arrived on the scene Dakota would quickly confessed to the murder. Dakota would plead guilty and be sentenced to seven and a half years to forty five years in prison
Dakota Thornton 2023 Information
Parole Number: NA1763 Age: 20 Date of Birth: 07/09/2000 Race/Ethnicity: WHITE Height: 5′ 07″ Gender: MALE Citizenship: USA Complexion: MEDIUM Current Location: SOMERSET
Nearly a year to the day after the slaying, a 16-year-old upper Dauphin County boy pleaded guilty Wednesday to third-degree murder for fatally shooting his 18-year-old brother during a dispute over a girl.
That decision means Dakota Thornton, who was 15 when he pulled the trigger, could serve as little as 7 1/2 years or as much as 45 years behind bars for murdering his brother Dominick in their Williams Township home.
The killing occurred at 2 a..m. last March 30 when Dakota Thornton shot his brother with a .410- gauge shotgun in an apartment on Autumn Drive. Police said the younger boy committed the slaying because he was romantically interested in his brother’s girlfriend.
Wednesday’s guilty plea hearing before Dauphin County Judge Deborah E. Curcillo took less than 10 minutes.
Under the deal outlined by First Assistant District Attorney Fran Chardo, Dakota Thornton has no agreement regarding the length of the prison sentence he must receive. That call will be up to Curcillo, who scheduled sentencing for June.
Dakota Thornton, a skinny kid with a shaved head, answered, “Yes, sir,” crisply when Chardo asked if he was accepting a plea agreement, which defense attorney Wendy Grella lauded as compassionate.
Factors that Curcillo will consider in fashioning a penalty include Dakota Thornton’s juvenile criminal record, which Chardo said includes consent agreements or adjudications for charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, making terroristic threats and possessing a weapon on school property. The first of those offenses occurred in 2012, the prosecutor said.
By accepting Chardo’s plea deal, Dakota Thornton scrapped a request to Curcillo to send his case to juvenile court. He was charged with murder as an adult right after his arrest. Had his case gone to juvenile court, he could not have received a sentence that would have kept him incarcerated beyond his 21st birthday.
After Dakota Thornton accepted the plea deal, Grella asked Curcillo to sentence him as soon as possible. “My client is anxious to start serving his sentence,” she said.
Chardo said the plea agreement was fashioned in consultation Dakota Thornton’s family.
“I think Mr. Chardo gave a lot of time and appropriate consideration of the factors in this case,” Grella said following the hearing.
She said factors that will weigh into her client’s sentence will include his mental health issues, that he was the victim of abuse while in foster care, and that “his meds weren’t given to him” on the day of the slaying.
Grella said the plan to try to move the case to juvenile court was dropped because of doubt that Curcillo would accept an arrangement that would free Dakota Thornton from prison without supervision so soon.
“This,” she said of the plea agreement, “is an appropriate resolution for the entire family.”
A sibling rivalry turned deadly after a lovesick Pennsylvania teen killed his older brother in a fight over a girlfriend.
“They were both interested in the same girl,” District Attorney Ed Marsico said about the brother’s killing, PennLive reported.
Dakota Thornton, 15, blasted his 18-year-old brother Dominick with a shotgun early Wednesday morning after longing for the older sibling’s girlfriend, police said.
After Pennsylvania State Police arrived at the 2 a.m. shooting, the heartbroken sibling put his hands up and admitted, “I shot my brother,” according to records.
Dakota confessed that he loaded up the shotgun just two minutes before the deadly shooting at the Dauphin County home, and told troopers he did it because he was romantically interested in his brother’s girlfriend, ABC27 reported.
“It’s very shocking,” a neighbor told the local station. “I just saw Dominick outside yesterday. Just to know he’s dead now — I actually watched them carry him outside in a body bag. It’s not usual around here at all.”
The 15-year-old accused killer is being charged with homicide as an adult, and held without bail.
His first court appearance is scheduled for April 6
Natasha Cornett was eighteen years old when she took part in the now infamous Lillelid murders in Tennessee. According to court documents Natasha Cornett along with Edward Dean Mullins, 19; Joseph Lance Risner, 20; Crystal R. Sturgill, 18; Jason Blake Bryant, 14; and Karen R. Howell, 17 were on a road trip to New Orleans Louisiana when they stopped at a rest area in Tennessee
The Lillelid family who just attended a Jehovah Witness convention. The father Vidar Lillelid approached the group to spread the word but what he did not know is that Natasha Cornett and her group were planning on carjacking his van in order to complete their trip to New Orleans.
The Lillelid family which consisted of Vidar Lillelid, his wife Defina and their two children: six year old Tabitha and two year old Peter were forced at gunpoint to their van which was then driven to a remote location.
Who exactly shot the Lillelid family is not 100 percent clear however fourteen year old Jason Bryant and other male members of the group were involved. Vidar and Defina would both die at the scene, six year old Tabitha died on the way to the hospital and two year old Peter would survive his injuries but would lose the sight in one of his eyes.
Natasha Cornett and her group were soon arrested and charged with the three murders. All of the group members who were eighteen years plus, including Natasha, would take a plea deal in order for the death penalty to be taken off the table. The younger members would ultimately receive the same sentences.
A number of years later Natasha Cornett and death row inmate Christa Pike would both be charged and convicted in the attempted murder of another inmate.
The van rolled through the twilight, gravel crunching beneath its wheels and a few quiet sobs escaping from inside.
The sun had set, and dusk thickened to dark. The van stopped, and the doors opened.
One by one, the occupants climbed out — from behind the wheel, the father, a tall, thin man in his 30s; from the back, the mother, slightly younger and holding the hands of their daughter and son; two women in black; and a man and a boy, each holding a gun. A car pulled up the road behind them, circled around the van and came to a stop, its headlights still on.
One gunman turned to the other.
“What do you think we should do?” he asked. “Do you think we should let them go or do you think we should kill them?
Six people, all serving life sentences with no chance of parole, know what happened next that Sunday evening of April 6, 1997. Each tells a slightly different story. In each story, another fires the fatal shots.
John Huffine can recite the events from memory. The retired detective knows every inch of the spot along Payne Hollow Lane in rural Greene County, right down to the number of feet from the spot where the van parked to the main road, to the nearest house, to the ditch where deputies found four bodies lying in a bloody pile. Twenty years later, he can point out all the landmarks.
Here were the tire tracks. There was a shell casing. This house wasn’t here then. That tree was smaller. The stump — that’s gone.
He can tick off all the names on his fingers — Vidar and Delfina Lillelid, the Knoxville couple whose names still call to mind one of the most gruesome and notorious murder cases in modern East Tennessee history; their 6-year-old daughter, Tabitha, who offered chocolates to her killers on the ride to her death; their 2-year-old son, Peter, the only one of the family to survive.
He remembers the killers, too, whose names, mug shots and fascination with devil worship, blood-drinking and the occult topped front pages, TV newscasts and tabloid covers for months after the killing, and whose motives still drive online debates among true-crime aficionados. Natasha Cornett, then 18; Karen Howell, then 17; Joseph Lance Risner, then 20; Jason Blake Bryant, then 14; Joseph Dean Mullins, then 19; and Crystal Rena Sturgill, then 18, all deny to this day they knew what was about to happen on the side of that gravel road
The longtime investigator knows how the killers met their victims, can tell the story of how the family, devout Jehovah’s Witnesses headed home from a religious convention, stopped at the rest area on Interstate 81 South at just the right time to cross paths with six Kentucky youths on the run from police, parents and a community they hated. He knows the path they followed from there to the murder scene. He knows how many shots were fired, in what order and from what distance.
What he still can’t say for sure is exactly what happened after the van stopped.
“Everybody has their theory, and I have mine,” Huffine said. “I think it was a crime of opportunity. All the elements just came together. But this case is like an inkblot. Everybody who looks at it sees something different.
The six still have their defenders, from family members to strangers who don’t dispute their guilt but insist all shouldn’t die behind bars. Attorneys for Bryant and Howell have filed motions to reopen their exhausted appeals, citing recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that restrict the imposition of life sentences on juveniles. Howell’s motion could be heard April 21.
Berkeley Bell, who prosecuted the case as district attorney general, sees not an inkblot, but a clear-cut face-off between good and evil.
“It was the highlight of my career as a prosecutor,” said Bell, now retired after 32 years in office. “The whole thing was driven by evil — almost a supernatural-type evil. That sense of evil just permeated the whole thing from start to finish. It infused the defendants, and it empowered them. That’s what I believed then, and my opinion has not changed.
The next time convicted killer Christa Gail Pike engages in a cage match with another murderer, she might want to lose the smack talk.
The state Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday ruled that Pike ‘s own words belied her claim that she nearly choked to death one Knoxville killer to save another notorious East Tennessee murderer.
“Her stated intention was to protect” convicted killer Natasha Cornett, Appellate Judge John Everett Williams wrote. “There was ample evidence by her actions and ( Pike ‘s) own words that contradicted this position.”
The appellate court, in upholding Pike ‘s conviction for the attempted murder of Patricia Ann Jones in the Tennessee Prison for Women, also rejected Pike ‘s argument that the Davidson County jury that convicted her was prejudiced by testimony that Pike is on death row.
“Although the unsolicited remark was prejudicial, it was mitigated by the setting in which these events took place,” Williams wrote. “The inmates of the maximum security wing of the Tennessee Prison for Women are generally considered to have attained their status through other than innocent and meritorious means.”
Pike , on death row for the 1995 torture-slaying of fellow Knoxville Job Corps student Colleen Slemmer, attacked Jones in 2001 while the pair and Cornett were placed together in a “recreation cell or cage” after a fire-related evacuation of prison cells, the opinion stated.
All three women are among East Tennessee’s most notorious killers.
Jones is serving life plus 40 years for killing 84-year-old Alberta Coker during a robbery at Coker’s East Fifth Avenue home in 1995. Like Pike , Jones had come to Knoxville via the Job Corps program. Jones stabbed Coker 77 times so she could steal jewelry and corn, which she traded for $50 worth of cocaine.
Natasha Cornett was the ringleader of a crew of Kentucky teenagers who kidnapped a Powell family from a rest area in Greene County in 1997. The teenagers took Vidar and Delfina Lillelid and their two children, 2 and 6, to a remote area and shot them. Only the toddler survived. She is serving life without possibility of parole.
According to the appellate court opinion, Jones had a beef with Natasha Cornett and has a reputation for fighting other inmates.
“I just want to kill her, maybe come up behind her and split her throat or catch her when the police ain’t around and just beat her until I get tired,” Jones said of Cornett in a chat with a prison doctor before the August 2001 incident with Pike .
Despite that, prison guards put Jones, Cornett and Pike together in the recreation cage because of a fire at the prison on Aug. 24, 2001.
Pike came armed with a shoelace-like string, the opinion stated.
“When asked of her intention toward (Jones), ( Pike ) said, ‘I don’t wanna (sic) say that I intended to kill her but I would say that I didn’t care if she died,’?” the opinion stated.
In a telephone conversation with her mother after the incident with Jones, Pike described what happened after the trio was locked inside the cage.
“Patricia was running her (expletive) mouth to Natasha,” Pike said in the tape-recorded phone call. “And she is constantly doing it, you know. I hate that (expletive).”
Pike told her mother than Jones raised her fist as if to hit Natasha Cornett.
“I said, ‘Oh, (expletive) no!’?” Pike said. “And I wrapped that shoestring around her (neck) and tried to choke the (expletive) life out of her. She was passed out on the ground, Mama, twitching, foaming at the mouth. Her eyeballs were bugged out so far her eyelids were flipped up.”
According to the opinion, Pike explained to her mother that she now knows “the difference between premeditated murder and what happened to (Slemmer) ’cause I premeditated the (expletive) out of this. If I’d of had 30 more seconds, we’d have a little chalk line out there in our rec pen and that (expletive) would be gone somewhere.”
Jones survived the attack.
Pike is currently on her last round of appeals of her convictions in the Slemmer slaying. A hearing on that appeal is set for September in Knox County Criminal Court.
ach of the six defendants was indicted for three counts of first degree murder, one count of attempted first degree murder, two counts of especially aggravated kidnaping, two counts of aggravated kidnaping, and one count of theft of property valued over $1,000. The charges stemmed from the April 6, 1997, murder of Vidar Lillelid (34) and Delfina Lillelid (28), the murder of their six-year-old daughter, Tabitha Lillelid, and the attempted murder of their two-year-old son, Peter Lillelid. The crimes were committed near a rest stop in Greene County, Tennessee.
The defendants were en route from their homes in Pikeville, Kentucky, to New Orleans, Louisiana. Before leaving Kentucky, they had acquired two guns, a 9mm and a .25 caliber pistol. Shortly after their departure, they realized that their car, which belonged to Joseph Risner, would not likely sustain the length of the trip. They discussed the possibility of stealing a car from a parking lot or a dealership before meeting the Lillelids, who were returning to their residence from a religious convention, at a rest stop on Interstate 81 near Greeneville.
Vidar Lillelid, who was an active Jehovah’s Witness, approached Cornett and Howell at the rest stop in order to discuss his religious views. He was accompanied by his son, Peter. Eventually, Risner and Bryant joined the conversation. Meanwhile, Mrs. Lillelid and her daughter, Tabitha, were seated at a nearby picnic table. After a time, Risner, Bryant, Howell, and Cornett joined the entire Lillelid family and continued their conversation. At some point, Risner displayed one of the guns and said, “I hate to do you this way, but we are going to have to take you with us for your van.” As he then directed the Lillelid family into their van, Vidar Lillelid pleaded with the group, offering his keys and wallet in exchange for permission to remain at the rest stop. Risner refused.
Vidar Lillelid drove the van while Risner, still armed, sat in the passenger seat. Risner, Bryant, Howell, and Cornett were in the van with the Lillelids. Mullins and Sturgill followed in Risner’s car. In an attempt to calm the children, Delfina Lillelid began to sing. Bryant purportedly ordered her to stop. Risner directed Mr. Lillelid first to the interstate and then to a secluded road at the next exit.
What happened thereafter is in dispute. The accounts given by Risner, Cornett, Howell, Mullins, and Sturgill are consistent, except for minor discrepancies. They claim that Bryant began to take charge of the situation once Risner ordered the van to a stop. Risner, who was in possession of the 9mm weapon, contends that he handed the gun to Cornett at that point, explaining that he could not continue. Cornett maintains that she placed the weapon on the floor of the van while Bryant, who had the .25 caliber gun, ordered the Lillelids to stand in front of a ditch. According to all but Bryant, the Lillelids pleaded for their lives and especially for the lives of their children, promising that they would not call the authorities. The other defendants contend that when Bryant refused, Cornett and Howell then pleaded with Bryant to let the Lillelids go. According to the other defendants, Bryant again refused, explaining that the Lillelids would likely call the police. When Bryant promised that he would not hurt the children, Howell and Cornett testified that they returned to the van, where Risner had remained. They then heard a rapid succession of gunshots. Some claim that Mr. Lillelid was the first to be shot, while others say that it was Mrs. Lillelid. All contend that when the shooting stopped, Bryant returned to the van, and said, “They’re still f-ing alive.” He then grabbed the other gun and fired another round of shots. Bryant, they said, laughed and bragged about the shootings. After the shootings, Risner went to his car and removed the license plate and registration from his vehicle. Risner claims that he accidentally struck one or more of the bodies when, in response to an order from Bryant, he turned the van around. They each claim that Sturgill and Mullins remained in Risner’s car throughout the entire episode.
At the sentencing hearing, Bryant testified that it was Risner who ordered the Lillelids out of the van and directed them to stand by a ditch. He contended that Risner first shot Vidar Lillelid with the .25 caliber weapon and then slapped Mullins on the shoulder, and that Mullins also shot at the victims. Bryant claimed that he kept his eyes closed during the shootings and that he never fired either weapon. Bryant contended that Mullins and Risner ordered the others into the van after the shootings. The defendants then drove the Lillelids’ van to a gas station where they purchased a road map. They stopped at a Waffle House while traveling through Georgia but left the restaurant when a group of police officers arrived. They decided to abandon their plans to travel to New Orleans and instead drove toward Mexico. When they reached the border, they were initially denied admittance because they did not have the proper forms of identification but eventually found a way into the country. While in Mexico, Bryant was shot in the hand and leg. The source of the wound is disputed by the defendants. Bryant testified that Risner asked him to take the blame for the shootings because Bryant was a juvenile. He claimed that when he hesitated, Risner shot him in the hand and in the leg. The other defendants asserted that Bryant’s wounds were self-inflicted.
Later, the defendants were stopped by the Mexican authorities. When they claimed they were lost, the officers ordered the defendants out of the van and conducted a search. When they found a knife and a photo album belonging to the Lillelid family, they ordered the defendants to the border to re-enter the United States. American officers searched the defendants at the border patrol and took them to an Arizona jail. At the time of their arrest, several of the defendants had in their possession personal items belonging to the victims.
Upon their return to Tennessee, the state filed formal charges and provided notice seeking the death penalty for each defendant, except for Howell and Bryant, who were juveniles at the time of the commission of the crime. In exchange for withdrawal of the requests for the death penalty, Cornett, Risner, Mullins, and Sturgill pled guilty to three counts of first degree murder and one count of attempted first degree murder. Juveniles Howell and Bryant also entered pleas of guilt to the same charges.
The sentencing hearing, conducted in February of 1998, lasted one week. All of the defendants testified at the hearing, with the exception of Mullins and Sturgill.
Dr. Cleland Blake, a forensic pathologist, testified to the extent of the victims’ injuries. Vidar Lillelid, age 34, received a total of six gunshot wounds, one to the right side of his head and five to his chest. In Dr. Blake’s opinion, the first shot entered the victim’s right eye, traveled through his temple, and exited in front of his right ear. While he could not be certain, it was Dr. Blake’s opinion that this shot was fired by a 9mm handgun and would have caused a loss of consciousness. Dr. Blake believed that the victim fell to the ground and was shot three times in the upper right side of his chest. He described the shots as consistent with a 9mm. It was Dr. Blake’s opinion that the three gunshot wounds to the chest were deliberately fired in order to form the shape of an equilateral triangle and that the victim was lying on his back at the time. A gunshot wound just below Mr. Lillelid’s nipple was consistent with a .25 caliber weapon. A final 9mm gunshot wound was located just beneath the .25 caliber wound. There was a “graze laceration” on the victim’s right forearm where a bullet skimmed across the surface of his arm. A span of approximately 23 centimeters divided the five chest wounds. All of the wounds were grouped along the right side of the body. There were postmortem superficial abrasions to the back of the victim’s legs. Dr. Blake believed that the victim most likely died within a few minutes of the initial gunshot to his right eye.
Delfina Lillelid, age 28, was shot eight times. All eight bullets were recovered; six were from a 9mm and two were from a .25 caliber. In Dr. Blake’s opinion, the first of these shots, fired by a 9mm, shattered the bone in her left arm. The second shot, also from a 9mm, shattered the thigh of her left leg. Dr. Blake testified that these shots would have caused severe pain, but would not have produced her death. Dr. Blake believed that the victim would not have been able to stand after these wounds were inflicted. Mrs. Lillelid was shot six additional times while she lay on her back. The first three shots struck the left side of her abdomen. It was Dr. Blake’s opinion that these shots were fired to form a triangular pattern, similar to the injuries inflicted on Mr. Lillelid. The three shots pierced her stomach, leaving a four- to five-inch tear, and traveled through her pancreas, spleen, left kidney, and left adrenal. A final 9mm entry wound was located at the mid-section of Mrs. Lillelid’s abdomen just above her navel and was recovered from her vertebrae. There was a .25 caliber gunshot wound under her left armpit; the bullet lodged in the skin on the back of her left shoulder. A .25 caliber weapon also caused a wound to Mrs. Lillelid’s left side. The bullet was recovered from the center of her liver. She also suffered abrasions on her right calf. Dr. Blake testified that Mrs. Lillelid’s wounds were not immediately fatal and that she could have been conscious for as long as 25 minutes, including when her body was driven over by the van.
Six-year-old Tabitha Lillelid was shot once in the head by a small caliber weapon. The bullet entered her head on the left side, traveled downward, and exited behind her right ear, causing immediate brain death. Her organs continued to function through the use of life support until her uncle, who had been named her custodian, gave permission for the donation of several of her internal organs. Physicians harvested her heart, liver, gallbladder, kidneys, pancreas, spleen, and adrenals. She was pronounced dead one day after the shootings.
Two-year-old Peter Lillelid was shot twice with a small caliber weapon. One shot entered behind his right ear and exited near his right eye. A second gunshot penetrated his body from the back and exited through his chest. He was transported to the pediatric intensive care unit at the University of Tennessee Memorial Hospital by a Lifestar helicopter and was listed in critical condition. He required vigorous resuscitation. There was a contusion to his right lung and some residual bleeding in his right chest cavity. Eleven days after the shootings, doctors removed the damaged eye. He remained in the hospital for 17 days before being transferred to a rehabilitation center in Knoxville.
With regard to the first degree murder of Vidar Lillelid, the trial court found the two following aggravating circumstances applicable to each of the six defendants:
(1) the murder was committed for the purpose of avoiding, interfering with, or preventing arrest or prosecution, Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-13-204(i)(6); and
(2) the defendants committed “mass murder,” Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-13-204(i)(12).
The trial court concluded that these two aggravating circumstances also applied to the murder of Delfina Lillelid. A third aggravating circumstance was also found to be present: Her murder was “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel” because of the “torture and abuse ․ on the way to [the] murder, when [the victims] were crying and begging, pleading and singing” and because Mrs. Lillelid “cried and begged and pleaded before she was killed, at least for her children ․ and then was [deliberately] run over while she was still alive.” Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-13-204(i)(5).
With respect to the murder of Tabitha Lillelid, the trial court applied three aggravating circumstances to all six defendants:
(1) the defendants committed “mass murder,” Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-13-204(i)(12);
(2) the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, Tenn .Code Ann. § 39-13-204(i)(5); and
(3) the murder was committed for the purpose of avoiding, interfering with, or preventing arrest or prosecution, Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-13-204(i)(6).
The trial court reasoned that the murder of Tabitha Lillelid was “especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel” because she “saw her parents shot and fall to the ground.” As to the defendants Risner, Mullins, Sturgill, and Cornett, the trial court found a fourth aggravating circumstance, Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-13-204(i)(1), applicable to the murder of Tabitha Lillelid because she was under the age of twelve and the defendants Risner, Mullins, Sturgill, and Cornett were at least eighteen. Because Bryant (14) and Howell (17) were under the age of eighteen, this aggravating circumstance was not applicable to them.
The trial court found the following statutory enhancement factors applicable to each of the defendants as to the attempted murder of Peter Lillelid:
(1) the victim of the offense was particularly vulnerable because of age, Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-35-114(4);
(2) the victim was treated with exceptional cruelty during the commission of the offense, Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-35-114(5); and
(3) a firearm was used during the commission of the offense, Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-35-114(9).
The trial court imposed the maximum possible sentence upon each of the defendants: Twenty-five years for the attempted murder of Peter Lillelid and life sentences without the possibility of parole for each of the three first degree murder convictions. The trial court ordered that all four sentences be served consecutively, finding each defendant to be a dangerous offender, having little regard for human life within the meaning of Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-35-115(4).
Jessica Burlew was a sixteen year old from Arizona when she murdered a man she was having sex with. According to court documents Jessica Burlew would wrap an electrical cord around the forty three year old victims neck and strangle him. Jessica Burlew told police it was an accident however she would ultimately be charged with murder. This teen killer would plead guilty to second degree murder and be sentenced to ten years in prison.
Jessica Burlew 2023 Information
Last Name First Name Middle Initial BURLEW JESSICA D Gender Height (inches)Weight Hair Color FEMALE 64 168 BROWN Eye Color Ethnic Origin Custody Class Admission BROWN CAUCASIAN Close/High 10/23/2015 Projected Eligible Release Date Prison Release Date Release Type 11/21/2024 ERCD Most Recent Location As of Date Complex Unit Last Movement Status PERRYVILLEAS PC-PV LUMLEY UNIT 10/08/2020 ACTIVE
Jessica Burlew had accepted the state’s plea bargain last month — pleading guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for a 10-year sentence — and today, Judge Scott McCoy reviewed the mitigating factors put forward by the defense and agreed to the terms of the deal.
“I know there’s been a great deal of debate about this case, but today is not the day for debate,” McCoy said before reading his sentencing decision. “Despite the very unusual circumstances of this case . . . there are a considerable amount of mitigating [factors], so much so that it justifies reducing the sentence down to 10 years.” (A second-degree murder charge can bring up to 25 years in prison.)
McCoy gave Jessica Burlew credit for the 644 days she’s already served in a Maricopa County jail and reminded her that she has 90 days to file a petition for post-conviction relief should she believe there was an error in the way her case was handled. Overall, it was an emotion-filled final day in court for what has been a complicated and often controversial situation:
In January 2014, Jessica Burlew — who was 16 at the time — told police that she accidentally strangled Ash, the older man she met online and had been involved with sexually, after he asked her to choke him. She said she didn’t stop because he never said the “safe word.”
As New Times detailed in the May cover story, The Deepest Cut, when Jessica Burlew realized that Ash was non-responsive, she cut his body with a razor blade in what she says was an attempt to revive him. According to the police report, she later clarified that the first cut “was an attempt to get a reaction to see if he was still alive or if he would wake up,” and that the subsequent ones were to “get things clear in her mind.”
Jessica Burlew then called her mother, Tracey Woodside, who was nearby cleaning her vehicle. Woodside rushed back to the apartment, saw Ash’s body, and immediately dialed 911. By the time police arrived, Burlew had fled the scene. She came back hours later and was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
In the time since Burlew’s arrest — most of which has been spent in solitary confinement — her case has inspired a great deal of controversy. She has a strong and vocal group of supporters in the group Free Jessie B., who are furious about the way her case has been handled.
Burlew’s advocates also maintain that she, not Ash, is the true victim in the situation. They point to the age difference, the fact that she was not of legal age to consent to sex, and that Ash helped her access drugs — mostly heroin and meth— as proof that Ash was a sexual predator. And they point to her mental-health issues, self-mutilation, and the myriad ways the state’s social safety nets failed Burlew as proof that Ash would still be alive if she had been cared for properly.
In speaking to the judge this morning, Marcia Ash, Jason’s mother, acknowledged that both her son and Burlew are “victims” in this situation — Jason because he “died in such a horrible way” and Burlew because “she fell through the cracks [of society]” — but stated boldly that while her son “wasn’t perfect and didn’t always make the best choices . . . he was not a pedophile or a sexual predator.”
Marcia Ash went on to say that while strangling someone could be construed as an accident, the type of “unimaginatively horrific post-mortem mutilation” Burlew inflicted on her son’s body could not — and she placed much of the blame on Burlew’s mother, Tracey Woodside, who also was in the courtroom. Woodside, who declined to comment for this article, watched the sentencing from the back of the room, rarely taking her eyes off of her daughter. She decided not to make a speech in front of the judge but could be seen wringing her hands, the same way her daughter sometimes does, as both Marcia Ash and prosecutor Jay Rademacher spoke.
“The state acknowledges the substantial mitigating factors: her upbringing, her mental-health problems, the drugs . . . However, there other other factors to consider,” Rademacher said. “The defendant was engaged in adult activities, and she needs to face adult consequences.”
He also disputed the notion that Jason Ash was any sort of sexual predator: “If you look at the texts [between Ash and Burlew], they don’t paint a picture of a child molester . . . Jason seemed like a little puppy dog that would do anything for Jessica.”
At this comment, Woodside and her friend sitting next to her exchanged frustrated glances. . “I understand the age of consent, but this defendant lied about her age [and] she initiated a lot of the drugs, mutilation, and sex [in the videos retrieved from her cell phone],” Rademacher added. He ended his remarks by calling the situation a “recipe for disaster” and saying, “This wasn’t an accident, because at the end of the day, Jessica was holding the cord around his neck, and she killed him.”
Ashely Meyer, Burlew’s public defender, spoke next. She called the plea bargain the “final and best plea offer” and listed seven mitigating factors she wanted the judge to consider before sentencing Burlew:
1. That Burlew was only 16. 2. That she has no prior felonies on her record. 3.That she didn’t have the capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of her actions because of the drugs he gave her. 4. That she has an extensive history of substance abuse. 5. That she has significant mental-health issues and had a dysfunctional childhood. 6. That the slaying was not premeditated and was, in fact, the result of a consensual act. 7. That the relationship between Burlew and Ash was completely inappropriate.
“He was 43, she was 16,” Meyer said. “Both are victims of different crimes.”
Before announcing his sentencing decision, McCoy gave Burlew a chance to speak:
“He also lied about his age,” she replied. “He said he was 26 on the internet site where we met, then he said he was 28. He kept saying he was 28, and I believed it.” While at her last court hearing, Jessica Burlew looked disorientated and upset, today she appeared calmer. As the court bailiff led her out of the courtroom, she looked back over her left shoulder and gave her mother a little smile.
Woodside, who had tears in her eyes at this point, continued to stare at the tall wooden door of the courtroom long after her daughter was out of sight.
A Glendale teen accused of strangling a man to death during sex was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Wednesday.
Jessica Burlew, now 18, was charged as an adult with second-degree murder.
The charge stems from the death of her boyfriend, Jason Ash, 43. His body was found in a Glendale apartment in January 2014.
Jessica Burlew pleaded guilty to the charge last month. She was 16 at the time of the incident, but prosecutors charged her as an adult.
Jessica Burlew reportedly told her mother that she and Ash were playing sex games and he was cut and choked. She said Ash did not say the “safety word,” the documents stated. Burlew told police that they would often engage in such acts prior to consensual sex.
Jessica Burlew told police that after she strangled Ash, she began cutting him with a razor blade in an attempt to get a response since he appeared to have passed out, according to the court documents. After she didn’t get a response, she said she continued to cut him in order to alleviate her stress from the situation.
Burlew’s mother said the teen has a history of cutting herself “as a release,” according to the court paperwork.
Supporters of Burlew say she was a minor sexually victimized by Ash and the death should have been considered accidental. Sex with a minor is a felony under Arizona law.
A Glendale teenager accused of killing her older lover during rough sex was sentenced to 10 years in prison Oct. 20.
Jessica Burlew, 18, pleaded guilty to killing Jason Ash Jan. 18, 2014, after he was found dead in Burlew’s bed with an electrical cord wrapped around his neck. He also had cuts on his arms and face, believed to be caused by a razor. She had accepted the state’s plea deal last month.
“I know there’s been a great deal of debate about this case, but today is not the day for debate,” Judge Scott McCoy said before reading the sentencing verdict Oct. 20. “Despite the very unusual circumstances of this case, there are considerable amount of mitigating factors, so much so that it justifies reducing the sentence down to 10 years.”
Burlew could have received up to 25 years in prison for the second-degree murder charge.
Police were called to the home in January 2014 after a 911 call where Ash was found, but Burlew, who was 16 at the time, was not present when officers arrived.
Burlew’s mother, Tracey Woodside, said Burlew had called her after leaving the scene and told her that Ash was dead in her bed.
She was found in a nearby apartment, where she admitted to the killing and that it was an accident.
Burlew told police that the two had normally participated in choking during sexual intercourse and that Ash had not motioned to stop the choking during the fatal encounter.
She was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with 644 days credit for the time she has already served in jail.
JESSICA BURLEW, IS AN 18 YEAR OLD GIRL DIAGNOSED AS SCHIZOEFFECTIVE AND AUTISTIC, WAS HELD PRE-TRIAL IN ISOLATION IN ESTRELLA JAIL FROM JANUARY, 2014 UNTIL NOVEMBER, 2015. SHE IS CURRENTLY HOUSED AT PERRYVILLE PRISON AFTER HAVING BEEN CONVICTED OF 2ND DEGREE MURDER FOR THE ACCIDENTAL DEATH OF JASON ASH, A 43 YEAR OLD MAN WHO WAS SEXUALLY EXPLOITING HER AS A 16 YEAR OLD.
Natasha Ellis was fifteen years old when she planned with a thirteen year old friend to murder the friend’s mother. According to court documents Natasha Ellis would fatally stab the woman, the woman’s husband and their teenage son. The woman, Lee Moore would die from her injuries. The man and teenage son would survive the brutal attack.
Natasha Ellis would try to plead not guilty by reason of insanity but would later plead guilty to a host of charges. This teen killer would be sentenced to twenty three years to life.
The teen girl charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of her friend’s mother in New Carlisle a year ago pleaded guilty on Thursday
Natasha Ellis, 15 at the time, was accused along with her then 13-year-old friend of orchestrating an attack on the younger girl’s family.
Ellis, now 16, was also charged with attempted murder. She pleaded guilty to both charges Thursday afternoon in Clark County Common Pleas Court. She will be sentenced on July 10.
The now 14-year-old is awaiting trial as a juvenile.
Ellis faces 15 years to life on the murder charge and 11 to 16½ years on for attempted murder. Once sentenced she will serve out her time in an adult prison after a psychological expert found earlier this year “there was not sufficient time to rehabilitate” her in the juvenile system.
Ellis had maintained her innocence up until Thursday. During her plea hearing, she hesitated when Clark County Common Pleas Judge Douglas Rastatter asked her if she understood that by signing the plea agreement she was waiving her right to a trial.
She asked Rastatter if she could speak with her lawyer before answering and he agreed to a short recess. After speaking briefly with her lawyer, she agreed that she wanted to proceed with accepting the plea agreement.
Ellis had previously pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the charges on Dec. 27, according to online court records. But on Feb. 25, she was found competent to stand trial after a competency evaluation at Eastway Behavioral Healthcare in Dayton found she was “not intellectually disabled or mentally ill.”
“She is currently able to understand the nature and objective of the legal proceeding and can assist in her defense,” online court records from the evaluation said. “Therefore, the court finds her competent to stand trial.”
Ellis was accused of carrying out an attack on her friend’s family members on May 23, 2019, at a home on North Church Street in New Carlisle. The friend’s mother, Lee A. Moore, 36, died in the attack. The younger girl’s father and then 17-year-old brother also were hurt, but survived.
As a result of her plea agreement, two additional charges of aggravated murder and felonious assault against Ellis were dropped. She also agreed to testify against the now 14-year-old if her case goes to trial.
Clark County prosecutors declined to comment on Ellis’ plea after the hearing, citing the fact that she has not yet been sentenced and that the 14-year-old’s case remains ongoing. Ellis’ attorney, John Meehling, also declined to comment.
Clark County sheriff’s deputies have said previously that even though Ellis may have acted alone during the attack, the planning of the attack was done in unison with the other teen.
In an interrogation video shown in a July hearing, Ellis told an investigator the 13-year-old left weapons out in the home in certain places for her to use in the stabbing. At the same hearing, a deputy told the court that Ellis told her the night of the attack the two girls were in communication up until moments before the stabbing happened.
The 14-year-old has been charged as a serious youthful offender — which could result in a mixture of juvenile and adult sentences down the line.
One of the teen girls accused in a plotting a fatal stabbing in New Carlisle has pleaded guilty in the case.
Natasha Ellis, now 16, pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder charges in a plea deal with the Clark County Prosecutor’s Office.
Ellis has been charged as an adult and originally was indicted on charges of aggravated murder, murder, attempted murder and felonious assault – but the first and last count of the indictment were dropped as part of the deal.
In addition, Ellis has also agreed to testify against her teenage co-defendant – whose case is still going through the court system in Clark County Juvenile Court.
The charges that Ellis have pleaded to carry a heavy penalty. She could potentially be in prison for the rest of her life for the crime. The murder charge alone carries a mandatory sentence of at least 15 years behind bars.
In May 2019, prosecutors say Ellis and her then 13-year-old friend plotted to kill the 13-year-old’s family, even though Ellis was the one to carry out the act.
The 13-year-old’s mother, Lee Ann Moore, was stabbed and later died.
The teen’s brother and father were also attacked, but survived.
Ellis previously made a claim in an interview with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office that her friend was being abused and killing the family was the only solution to end it, but that claim has not been verified.
The New Carlisle teen girl who pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing her friend’s mother a year ago will serve at least 22 years in an adult prison as a result of her crimes.
Natasha Ellis, who was 15 at the time of the crimes, was accused of orchestrating an attack with her then 13-year-old friend on the younger girl’s family.
Ellis was given her prison sentence by Judge Douglas Rastatter in Clark County Common Pleas Court on Friday morning. She pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder on June 11. As a result of her plea, two additional charges of aggravated murder and felonious assault were dropped.
She also agreed to testify against the now 14-year-old friend, if her case goes to trial. Clark County sheriff’s deputies have said previously that even though Ellis may have acted alone during that attack, the planning was done in unison with the other teen
The younger girl has been charged as a serious youthful offender, which could result in a mixture of juvenile and adult sentences down the line, and she is awaiting trial in Clark County Juvenile Court.
Ellis was accused of carrying out an attack on her friend’s family members of May 23, 2019, at a home on North Church Street in New Carlisle. The friend’s mother, Lee A. Moore, 36, died in the attack. The younger girl’s father, Paul Greear, and then 17-year-old brother were also hurt, but survived.
Prior to the sentence being handed down, Ellis read a statement directed at Greear and his son — who were in the courtroom but did not look at Ellis as she spoke.
“I want you to know I’m sorry for everything that happened to you and your family. I’m sorry for the attack on you,” Ellis said as she started to cry. “I’m also sorry for all the trauma that everyone had to deal with that night. I know you hate me and probably wish I would stop talking right now, but I just want you to know how I feel.”
Ellis said she “never wanted anyone to get hurt.”
“I know you will never forgive me, but just know I’m very sorry,” Ellis said. “I’m so sorry for everything.”
Greear spoke to the court after Ellis. He pleaded with Rastatter to “keep her in there as long as you possibly can.”
“Because she will do it again. She will offend again,” Greear said.
Rastatter sentenced Ellis to 15 to years to life for her murder charge, which was the maximum sentenced possible. For her attempted murder charge, Rastatter took over 10 minutes to hand down a sentence of seven to 10 years. The maximum sentence for the charge in the state of Ohio is 11 to 16 ½ years.
The sentences will be served consecutively, meaning Ellis will serve a minimum of 22 years in prison for her crimes.
“I believe that concurrent sentences would demean the seriousness of these offenses. I think it would be a miscarriage of justice for Mr. Greear because essentially the court would be saying what happened to him was irrelevant,” Rastatter said. “The two offenses committed here were committed as part of a course of conduct, and the harm caused was so great that no single prison term adequately reflects the seriousness of her conduct.”
Ellis, now 16, will serve her time in an adult prison after a psychological expert found earlier this year “there was not sufficient time to rehabilitate,” her in the juvenile system.
Natasha Ellis is currently incarcerated at Ohio Reformatory for Women
Natasha Ellis Release Date
Natasha Ellis is eligible for release in 2041
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