Whew! Very interesting...
Mom Sentenced After Son Shoots Mailman
By RAMESH SANTANAM
Associated Press Writer
July 29, 2005, 11:56 AM EDT
PITTSBURGH -- The mother of a young boy who accidentally shot and killed a postal carrier was sentenced Friday to 18 months in prison for illegally owning a gun and lying to federal authorities.
Latoya Burnette, 31, of Butner, N.C., tearfully apologized and asked for lenience, saying her son and two daughters needed her at home.
"I'm very, very sorry," Burnette said. "I'm very traumatized by this situation."
U.S. District Judge Terrence McVerry called the killing "a tragedy of epic proportions" and told Burnette she failed in her responsibility as a mother.
Burnette pleaded guilty in March to illegally owning a gun that her son used to shoot Clayton Smith on June 23, 2003 while aiming at a tree outside his apartment window. Smith, 45, of Colliers, W.Va., was in a shopping mall parking lot nearby.
Federal prosecutors said Burnette shouldn't have had the gun because she was a felon -- convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. She also pleaded guilty to lying to federal authorities by saying she didn't own it.
Investigators tied Burnette to the shooting when she was in court on an unrelated matter in 2004 and said her boyfriend had taken her .380-caliber gun -- the kind of weapon used to kill the postal worker.
The boy, who was 9 at the time of the shooting, was not charged; investigators ruled the shooting was unintentional because the boy could not see Smith.
Burnette could have gotten up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. In addition to the 18 months, McVerry sentenced Burnette to three years probation.
Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.
Mom Sentenced After Son Shoots Mailman
By RAMESH SANTANAM
Associated Press Writer
July 29, 2005, 11:56 AM EDT
PITTSBURGH -- The mother of a young boy who accidentally shot and killed a postal carrier was sentenced Friday to 18 months in prison for illegally owning a gun and lying to federal authorities.
Latoya Burnette, 31, of Butner, N.C., tearfully apologized and asked for lenience, saying her son and two daughters needed her at home.
"I'm very, very sorry," Burnette said. "I'm very traumatized by this situation."
U.S. District Judge Terrence McVerry called the killing "a tragedy of epic proportions" and told Burnette she failed in her responsibility as a mother.
Burnette pleaded guilty in March to illegally owning a gun that her son used to shoot Clayton Smith on June 23, 2003 while aiming at a tree outside his apartment window. Smith, 45, of Colliers, W.Va., was in a shopping mall parking lot nearby.
Federal prosecutors said Burnette shouldn't have had the gun because she was a felon -- convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. She also pleaded guilty to lying to federal authorities by saying she didn't own it.
Investigators tied Burnette to the shooting when she was in court on an unrelated matter in 2004 and said her boyfriend had taken her .380-caliber gun -- the kind of weapon used to kill the postal worker.
The boy, who was 9 at the time of the shooting, was not charged; investigators ruled the shooting was unintentional because the boy could not see Smith.
Burnette could have gotten up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. In addition to the 18 months, McVerry sentenced Burnette to three years probation.
Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.
