FL - Sarah Patten, 20, brutally murdered, Orlando, 29 March 2003

PrayersForMaura

Help Find Maura Murray
Joined
Aug 14, 2003
Messages
14,162
Reaction score
136
Tears flow as killer gets life


Neither family is happy in case of young mom's hammer slaying

Sarah Patten's 5-year-old daughter, Payton, asks for her mother almost every day. Each time, the child is told Patten is in heaven.

Sometimes, Payton says she wants to die, too, "so I can see my mommy in heaven."

But more often, the child's step-grandmother, Cheryl Patten, said in court Monday, Payton gets balloons and releases them into the sky -- floating gifts she hopes will reach her mother.

One day, Payton may learn the story of her mother's brutal death. And she'll know that the man a jury found responsible for it will spend the rest of his life in prison.

After a day of emotional testimony that brought two families on opposite sides of a courtroom to tears, Orange Circuit Judge Lisa T. Munyon sentenced Derek Pelto to life in prison for killing his girlfriend -- Payton's mother -- by stabbing and then striking her repeatedly with a hammer in his apartment March 29, 2003.

Handcuffed and escorted from the courtroom Monday, Pelto turned to his family and said: "Don't worry about me. I love you guys. I'll be fine."


http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-mpelto2905nov29,0,4011716.story?track=rss
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
136
Guests online
928
Total visitors
1,064

Forum statistics

Threads
589,930
Messages
17,927,806
Members
228,004
Latest member
CarpSleuth
Back
Top