CHEYENNE - If the toddler didn't have a chance in the hands of the teen who killed him, then neither did that teen, a defense attorney argued Thursday in asking a judge for a lesser sentence for Matthew Retherford.
Retherford was sentenced to 20 to 22 years in prison for beating a toddler he was babysitting in May 2003. That prison term was outlined in a plea agreement when Retherford, now 17, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder four months ago. He could have been ordered to serve 20 years to life in prison under state statute, but his attorney, David Serelson, advocated for rehabilitation and consideration of the teen's physical build and age.
The toddler's aunt, parents and grandmother listened as Serelson spoke, but didn't support anything less than prison time for Retherford, aunt Debra Carey said.
Her nephew, Kenneth Fauson, died two months after an admittedly angry Retherford struck him. The teenager was staying with the boy's family at an Avenue B-6 home, and was watching the toddler and his siblings while their mother was out for the evening.
Retherford was angry that he was left with the children and because he had lost a job, a prosecutor told the court. He earlier told the court he lost his temper with the wrong person, and he slapped Kenny.
Serelson's argument for reform school, boot camp, and then years of supervised and unsupervised probation upset the family, Carey said.
She, her mother and Kenny's father, Herman Fauson, traveled from Colorado Springs, Colo., for the sentencing. On their shirts they pinned round buttons framing a photo of a smiling Kenny. "In loving memory," the buttons' script read.
Both Herman Fauson and Jessica Fauson, Kenny's mother, were too emotional to tell Laramie County District Judge Nicholas Kalokathis how they felt, even with prepared statements before them. Instead, Kalokathis read them and looked at the pictures given to him.
One showed Kenny before his death. The other photograph was of him lying in his coffin, Carey said.
http://www.wyomingnews.com/news/more.asp?StoryID=103373
Retherford was sentenced to 20 to 22 years in prison for beating a toddler he was babysitting in May 2003. That prison term was outlined in a plea agreement when Retherford, now 17, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder four months ago. He could have been ordered to serve 20 years to life in prison under state statute, but his attorney, David Serelson, advocated for rehabilitation and consideration of the teen's physical build and age.
The toddler's aunt, parents and grandmother listened as Serelson spoke, but didn't support anything less than prison time for Retherford, aunt Debra Carey said.
Her nephew, Kenneth Fauson, died two months after an admittedly angry Retherford struck him. The teenager was staying with the boy's family at an Avenue B-6 home, and was watching the toddler and his siblings while their mother was out for the evening.
Retherford was angry that he was left with the children and because he had lost a job, a prosecutor told the court. He earlier told the court he lost his temper with the wrong person, and he slapped Kenny.
Serelson's argument for reform school, boot camp, and then years of supervised and unsupervised probation upset the family, Carey said.
She, her mother and Kenny's father, Herman Fauson, traveled from Colorado Springs, Colo., for the sentencing. On their shirts they pinned round buttons framing a photo of a smiling Kenny. "In loving memory," the buttons' script read.
Both Herman Fauson and Jessica Fauson, Kenny's mother, were too emotional to tell Laramie County District Judge Nicholas Kalokathis how they felt, even with prepared statements before them. Instead, Kalokathis read them and looked at the pictures given to him.
One showed Kenny before his death. The other photograph was of him lying in his coffin, Carey said.
http://www.wyomingnews.com/news/more.asp?StoryID=103373