PETER JENSEN
LAST UPDATED: MARCH 21ST, 2011 04:39 PM (PDT)
Standing before a judge Monday morning, March 21, to be sentenced for killing her boyfriend, a Whatcom County woman wept, apologized to his family members and asked for mercy.
A Whatcom County Superior Court jury convicted Lynda R. Holman, 47, of second-degree murder earlier this month for fatally shooting Mark G. McCollum, 48, inside their home near Everson in February 2010.
Judge Charles Snyder sentenced Holman to almost 28 years in a state prison Monday.
Holman's attorney, Jon Komorowski, director of the Whatcom County Public Defender's Office, argued at trial that Holman accidentally fired the shotgun that killed McCollum as she attempted to put it back on its rack.
Komorowski asked Snyder to sentence Holman to about 23 years in prison.
Whatcom County Prosecutor Dave McEachran argued at trial that her account was physically impossible based on the location of McCollum's wound.
McEachran said Holman, who had dated McCollum for about a decade, intentionally killed him because of troubles with their relationship.
The jury agreed and convicted her as charged.
"I think she should receive the most amount of time she can get," McEachran said at Monday's hearing. "It was certainly an intentional killing, and that's what the jury found."
Holman then went before Snyder to ask for mercy.
"It was totally an accident," Holman said. "I'd like to say I'm so sorry to Mark and his family. I grieve so much and it's so hard still. We were going to get married. I miss him so much."
Snyder did not show her leniency. He sentenced her to almost 28 years, which is at the top end of the standard sentencing range for a second-degree murder conviction for someone with Holman's criminal history.
Snyder's reason? Holman had been in front of a judge in similar circumstances before.
In 1995, Holman was convicted of second-degree manslaughter and first-degree robbery in Skagit County.
McEachran said Holman and her boyfriend of the time had encountered another man in a bar who showed them a lot of money.
Later that night, that man was shot to death and Holman and her boyfriend stole the money, McEachran said.
McEachran was uncertain what Holman's role was in that robbery, but she was sentenced to five years in prison for those convictions.
"This is not the first time you have been involved in the taking of a human life," Snyder said. "It is very difficult for the court to show leniency when that is the case. Whatever the lessons were from your first incident, they have not been learned."
1 comment:
Degree At Home.. Sad
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