Teen father could face 1.5 years
By Kat Russell, Reporter
The Paducah Sun
December 2, 2016
http://www.paducahsun.com/news/local/teen-father-could-face-years/article_e5f1b052-5b13-11e7-8710-10604b9f0f42.html
After three days of trial, a McCracken County jury found two teen parents not guilty of attempted murder Wednesday night, instead convicting the teens on lesser charges.
Accused in July 2015 of discarding their newborn baby girl in a dumpster, Casside Cherry, 16 and Trevon Elmore, 18, were each convicted of first-degree wanton endangerment, third-degree criminal abuse and tampering with physical evidence.
First-degree wanton endangerment and tampering with physical evidence are felonies, and each is punishable by up to five years in prison. Third-degree criminal abuse is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 12 months in prison.
Following the verdict, the jury deliberated to decide what penalties were appropriate.
After about an hour, the jury recommended Elmore receive one year and six months for each felony and one year for the tampering charge, each term to run concurrent for a total of one year and six months in prison.
The jury did not make a sentencing recommendation for Cherry, as she is still a juvenile. Her sentencing will be handled in the juvenile court system, and a hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 9.
Elmore's attorney, Angela Troutman, also made a motion that Elmore be sentenced as a juvenile, despite his being 18. Since her client was 17 when he was charged, and the charges he was convicted of would not have warranted him being certified as an adult, Troutman contended it was more appropriate for
her client's sentence to be handled by the juvenile system.
McCracken Circuit Judge Craig Clymer tabled that idea, setting a hearing for Feb. 9.
Following the proceedings, Commonwealth Attorney Carrie Ovey-Wiggins said she was disappointed with the verdict and the jury's sentencing recommendation.
"The penalty did not fit the crime, for either of (the teens)," she said.
Roughly two weeks before the trial, the commonwealth had reached a plea agreement with the teens' attorneys. But when the deal was presented to Clymer, he rejected it, stating the case would instead go to trial.
The deal, Wiggins said, would have imposed "much harsher" penalties.
The plea agreement, she said, had called for a dismissal of the attempted murder charges, something Clymer took issue with. The teens then would have pleaded to first-degree criminal abuse and tampering with physical evidence, with a recommended seven-year sentence for Cherry and eight-year sentence for Elmore.
Instead, Wiggins said, "with the amount of credit for time served that (Elmore) has ... and the sentence that the jury chose to give, he's practically served out."
"I'm frustrated with the outcome of this case," she said, adding in this case "the system didn't work."
"I feel like both these individuals got off very, very light for what they did," she said.
Elmore's attorney Angela Troutman, a local public defender, disagreed.
"I'm very happy with the verdict," she said. "I'm very happy with the jury's recommendation. I'm very happy that (Elmore's) story got out there, and I'm very happy that the whole story got to come out.
"When you hear all of the details — all of what really happened, all of the contributing factors — you realize that these were not callous mean-spirited kids who didn't care. These were scared teenagers who didn't know what to do and made the worst decision possible," she added.
The outcome, Troutman said, offers some hope for the teens, adding she hopes her client can move past this and go on to live a normal, productive life.
Accused in July 2015 of discarding their newborn baby girl in a dumpster, Casside Cherry, 16 and Trevon Elmore, 18, were each convicted of first-degree wanton endangerment, third-degree criminal abuse and tampering with physical evidence.
First-degree wanton endangerment and tampering with physical evidence are felonies, and each is punishable by up to five years in prison. Third-degree criminal abuse is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 12 months in prison.
Following the verdict, the jury deliberated to decide what penalties were appropriate.
After about an hour, the jury recommended Elmore receive one year and six months for each felony and one year for the tampering charge, each term to run concurrent for a total of one year and six months in prison.
The jury did not make a sentencing recommendation for Cherry, as she is still a juvenile. Her sentencing will be handled in the juvenile court system, and a hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 9.
Elmore's attorney, Angela Troutman, also made a motion that Elmore be sentenced as a juvenile, despite his being 18. Since her client was 17 when he was charged, and the charges he was convicted of would not have warranted him being certified as an adult, Troutman contended it was more appropriate for
her client's sentence to be handled by the juvenile system.
McCracken Circuit Judge Craig Clymer tabled that idea, setting a hearing for Feb. 9.
Following the proceedings, Commonwealth Attorney Carrie Ovey-Wiggins said she was disappointed with the verdict and the jury's sentencing recommendation.
"The penalty did not fit the crime, for either of (the teens)," she said.
Roughly two weeks before the trial, the commonwealth had reached a plea agreement with the teens' attorneys. But when the deal was presented to Clymer, he rejected it, stating the case would instead go to trial.
The deal, Wiggins said, would have imposed "much harsher" penalties.
The plea agreement, she said, had called for a dismissal of the attempted murder charges, something Clymer took issue with. The teens then would have pleaded to first-degree criminal abuse and tampering with physical evidence, with a recommended seven-year sentence for Cherry and eight-year sentence for Elmore.
Instead, Wiggins said, "with the amount of credit for time served that (Elmore) has ... and the sentence that the jury chose to give, he's practically served out."
"I'm frustrated with the outcome of this case," she said, adding in this case "the system didn't work."
"I feel like both these individuals got off very, very light for what they did," she said.
Elmore's attorney Angela Troutman, a local public defender, disagreed.
"I'm very happy with the verdict," she said. "I'm very happy with the jury's recommendation. I'm very happy that (Elmore's) story got out there, and I'm very happy that the whole story got to come out.
"When you hear all of the details — all of what really happened, all of the contributing factors — you realize that these were not callous mean-spirited kids who didn't care. These were scared teenagers who didn't know what to do and made the worst decision possible," she added.
The outcome, Troutman said, offers some hope for the teens, adding she hopes her client can move past this and go on to live a normal, productive life.
