JOSHUA WOLFSON Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Saturday, August 16, 2008 12:00 am
Sheri Williams turned to the young man seated several feet from her at the defense table. She took out a photograph and held it in his direction.
"This is my brother Bruce," she said. "You took him from me and I hope you rot in hell."
Michael Lott, the man she addressed, killed Bruce Tucker with kicks to the head during a party in October. On Friday, a judge sentenced Lott to serve 12 to 20 years in prison for Tucker's death.
The sentence followed an emotional, 2 1/2 hour hearing in Natrona County District Court, where Tucker's family spoke of their grief and several witnesses described being assaulted by Lott on other occasions.
"He could not control himself, he could not restrain himself," Judge Scott Skavdahl told the court. "He kicked a man in the head and killed him because he can't control himself."
Before sentencing, Lott briefly addressed the court and said he accepted responsibility for what happened.
"There is no excuse for my actions whatsoever," he said.
Several of Tucker's family members addressed Lott directly. Sharon Christopher, Tucker's sister, said she had been sentenced to watch her brother's three children grow up without their father.
"You might get 17 years, you might get 20 years, but for these boys, it's forever," she told Lott.
Ironically, the hearing took place on what would have been Tucker's 29th birthday.
Lott, 22, kicked Tucker in the head during an Oct. 27 party at Monster Fabrication, a Natrona County business where Lott worked. Witnesses told investigators Tucker had been asked to leave due to his behavior in a mosh pit, where participants slam into one another while dancing to rock music.
After a confrontation, James Knight, Lott's brother-in-law and the owner of Monster Fabrication, restrained Tucker and took him to the ground. Knight told the court he got control of Tucker and then started to let him up.
At that point, Lott kicked Tucker in the head with enough force, prosecutors say, to leave the imprint of his shoe in Tucker's forehead.
Tucker left the party and returned to his Casper home, where he complained of head pain and nausea. His girlfriend found his body the next day. An autopsy later determined his jaw had been broken in three places and he had a four- by six-inch blood clot under his skull.
Prosecutors originally charged Lott with second-degree murder. In April, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter as part of a plea agreement.
During Friday's hearing, Assistant District Attorney Dan Itzen presented several witnesses who described being assaulted by Lott and his friends during the past few years. A few of the incidents took place while Lott was free on bond.
One woman testified Lott punched her in the head three times during a party in October. Another told the court Lott kicked in her front door and kicked her in the leg after his friend was asked to leave a party in March.
A third witness, Vertis McDonald, testified Lott and his friends assaulted him at a party in September 2006.
"Between him and his five buddies, they managed to beat me into a seizure," he told the court.
None of the incidents resulted in criminal charges. But Itzen, in asking for an 18- to 20-year sentence, said Lott should be seen as a person who terrorizes society and targets the defenseless.
"It becomes clear this court must protect society," he said.
Lott's attorney, Don Fuller, conceded his client's behavior while on bond was "abysmal." But he characterized Lott as a good kid, with strong family support.
Fuller told the court Tucker had methamphetamine and alcohol in his system the night of the party. Tucker, he told the court, didn't leave when asked, which escalated the situation.
"This happens very quickly and it's tragic," he said.
Fuller did not recommend a specific sentence, instead asking for the judge to impose what he believed was appropriate.
Reach crime reporter Joshua Wolfson at (307) 266-0582 or at josh.wolfson@trib.com.