GUILTY MI - Jonathon Hoffman, 17, shot to death, West Bloomfield, 18 May 2012

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joe jones said:
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/deliberations-resuming-mich-grandmas-trial

such a tragedy for the whole family, but I think the jury got it right, she did choose to continue to shoot at him even when he was on the phone to 911 begging for help and was no obvious threat to her at this point
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There's a part of me that feels sorry for this woman, because she doesn't sound mentally stable and, no matter how long the sentence, she will spend the remainder of her life in prison. At the same time, what she did is just horrific and she really didn't seem remorseful ... just sorry for herself. Having experience with gerontology patients and elderly relatives with mental illness, my impression is that this woman reacted in a rage. She probably had anger management issues to begin with, and I believe her actions and the subsequent stresses of imprisonment and the trial have compounded any mental health issues. If she exhibits no other symptoms of dementia than the inability to accurately recall the events of the night in which she killed her grandson, her apparent hysteria the night of the killing (in the police car) and confusion at the trial are likely due to stress.
 
I have no idea why she killed him, but since he was on the phone to 911 while she shot him again, jury obviously didn't buy her self-defense claim. I am guessing that had she not been as advanced in age, jury might have even convicted her of first degree murder.
 
I think what gets to me about this case is that I have a new grandson when I never thought I'd get to be a grandmother. And I'll be Mrs. Layne's age when he is a teenager. The teen years are difficult years and I just cannot imagine my getting a gun and aiming it at him no matter what. I've had a good run, I would hope I would never risk his life for mine even if he started acting out like this boy did.
 
joe jones said:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...e-murder-fatal-shooting-teenage-grandson.html

mother of victim calls her a monster
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The mother of the victim let her elderly mother care for her drug addicted son and bears a HUGE amount of responsibility in this case. Perhaps not legally, but certainly morally. He was YOUR child, he had LOTS of problems that you either didn't want to deal with, or weren't aware of. Why weren't you aware of this? Why did you allow him to stay with his elderly grandparents instead of either staying in town until he finished high school, or taking him with you? I would have NEVER allowed my 17 year old son to stay with grandparents for that length of time. If I had, I would have been completely involved in every aspect of their life. Phone calls every day, texting, e-mailing, visits on the weekends, etc...just to make sure that all was well.

Don't get me wrong-I don't excuse the grandmother. She continued shooting him while he was on the phone with 911 begging for help. Had she shot him once or twice and called 911 herself, or ran out the front door screaming for her life, I might have some understanding. But she wasn't the one to call 911. The dying kid had to call and then was shot again and again afterwards.

I am really surprised they didn't go with a plea of temporary insanity. I think they felt they could sway the jury into having pity for a little old lady and an out of control teenager.

But I am sorry, grandma, that doesn't work when you finished the job in cold blood while he begged 911 on the call for help.
 
March 20, 2013 at 8:44 am

Grandma guilty in grandson's death 'got what she deserved,' daughter says

Layne, 75, faces at least 14 years in prison for shooting at condo

By Mike Martindale
The Detroit News

Pontiac — The daughter of 75-year-old Sandra Layne said her mother "got what she deserved" minutes after a jury convicted her of second-degree murder in the shooting death of her 17-year-old grandson.

Jennifer Hoffman, the mother of Jonathan Hoffman, who died after Layne shot him six times, called her mother "a monster."

"I know my son is in heaven and that is a place she will never see," Jennifer Hoffman said.

After eight hours of deliberations over two days, an Oakland County Circuit Court jury of seven women and five men found the West Bloomfield grandmother guilty of second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony...

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130320/METRO02/303200318#ixzz2O5uHcBF7
 
The parents of Jonathan Hoffman were living in AZ because that's where his younger sister was receiving treatment for a brain tumor:

http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/Convicted-killer-s-daughter-calls-her-monster-4367923.php
< snipped>
Jonathan Hoffman's parents were divorced and living in Arizona where his sister was being treated for a brain tumor.
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This article better explains the family's situation:

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/...-man/-/1719418/19400478/-/xv5juu/-/index.html
< snipped >
The family vacationed in Arizona for years. Hoffman says shortly after they all relocated to Arizona in 2011, his then 14-year-old daughter Jessica was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/...man/-/1719418/19401088/-/99hasbz/-/index.html
"(Jonathan's) mother and myself had to devote our attention almost exclusively to Jessica. He was in a new school, in a new state and all of this happened, and he pushed to go back to Michigan," Hoffman said.
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An interview with Michael Hoffman is also at the link.
 
The family have been through a hellish time, I hope there daughter is recovering well, they did what they thought was best given the circumstances and allowed him to go and live with his grandparents, according to his father his grandmother had not complained to him about her being scared of him,

I hope they all can now start to heal and remember the happier times they had with Jonathon as a family
 
joe jones said:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_...murder-trial-of-michigan-grandma-nearing-end/

jury have a range of charges to choose to convict her of so I am feeling positive she will at least be convicted of one of them, I would vote 2nd degree murder
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I would have voted for first degree because the evidence supported first degree ...not second degree.

This was just as premeditated as it can get. She hunted him down to shoot him again and again even when he was begging the 911 op to help him.

But the conviction is not at all surprising. She is a white female and elderly so Jon and his family had to settle for less justice because the murderer met the profile of those who receive lessor punishments/sentences.:(
 
oceanblueeyes said:
I would have voted for first degree because the evidence supported first degree ...not second degree.

This was just as premeditated as it can get. She hunted him down to shoot him again and again even when he was begging the 911 op to help him.

But the conviction is not at all surprising. She is a white female and elderly so Jon and his family had to settle for less justice because the murderer met the profile of those who receive lessor punishments/sentences.:(
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I tend to think that the jury compromised on a "sympathy" verdict. Since we have no DP in Michigan, even with the second degree conviction, Layne is likely to spend what is left of her life in prison.

If the jury in the Jodi Arias trial go with a "sympathy" verdict for the 32-year-old murderess, she would likely walk. I surely hope that it doesn't happen. :moo:
 
Prosecutors: No reason for Michigan woman, 75, to get short prison term in grandson's killing

Sandra Layne convicted of second-degree for death of 17-year-old Jonathan Hoffman

Published On: Apr 12 2013 07:39:19 AM EDT Updated On: Apr 12 2013 10:51:03 AM EDT

DETROIT -
A 75-year-old Detroit-area woman convicted of killing her teen grandson is asking for just a year in prison for murder, on top of a mandatory two-year sentence for using a gun.

Sandra Layne's attorney filed the request this week ahead of her sentencing on April 18. Jerome Sabbota told a judge that the public doesn't need to be protected from Layne, nor does the prison system need to rehabilitate her.

"Sandra Layne is in her own prison. ... There is nothing that anybody can do to turn the clock back to the awful events that occurred on May 18, 2012," Sabbota wrote. "There are no winners or losers in a case such as this"...

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/...2450/-/format/rsss_2.0/-/3f53cgz/-/index.html
 
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/P...z/-/index.html

Jerome Sabbota told a judge that the public doesn't need to be protected from Layne, nor does the prison system need to rehabilitate her.
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While serving a prison sentence, society does try to rehabilitate a criminal so that when they get out, the rest of society will be safe from their violent actions. But the main purpose of being incarcerated is to punish that person for having committed a crime.

"Any lengthy sentence of incarceration most likely will be a death sentence to her," Sabbota said.
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So, is this attorney saying that we should just let someone get away with murder because they won't do well in prison? If you take a life you had better be prepared to pay for that with your own life. No matter how much time she serves in prison, grandma still got to enjoy at least 55 years more of life than her grandson did.

"She did everything she could in an attempt to save this young man so he would be successful. To no avail," Sabbota wrote.
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And when there was nothing more she could do to save him ... she killed him. How does that make sense?
 
This is heart wrenching.. I don't know enough of the case to comment. I will have to look into it.

Seems like grandson was on drugs?? Troubled and his parents did not want him?
 
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