Man Gets At Least 15 Years In Prison For Fatal Stabbings During Home Invasion
ANN ARBOR (WWJ/AP) - A Monroe man has been sentenced to at least 15 years in prison after pleading no contest to second-degree murder in the fatal stabbings of a 12-year-old boy and his half brother in Washtenaw County.
Jesse Spurlock didn't kill Timber Brown and Jon Brown, but he was at the York Township home as part of a robbery last June. Co-defendant Joseph Hall has already been sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The victims' mother and stepmother spoke before Spurlock received his sentence Monday. Vickie Penewit says Spurlock "didn't even call 911" after the stabbings. She and two other people were stabbed but survived.
Spurlock will be eligible for parole after 15 years.
Authorities said the victims just happened the be at the wrong place at the wrong time. They were traveling from Indian River in northern Michigan's Cheboygan County to the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn to attend a car race when a storm hit. They became concerned about the rain and decided to stay overnight at a friend's home in York Township.
Three others were stabbed including Penewit, who sustained 14 wounds. Victim Nicole Skinner, who was slashed in the hand and neck, described the nightmarish attack to WWJ's Ron Dewey shortly after the incident, saying: "Nobody knew it was going to happen. We all felt safe."
"Me and Jon Brown were downstairs, sleeping on separate couches. We both heard a scream and I ran upstairs first, he was behind me," Skinner said. "I come to the top of the stairs, the guy swung, I lifted my hand up — that's when my hand got cut. I seen Vicki and Timber in the bedroom on the floor, so I ducked; that's when he got my neck…I'm lucky even to be alive."
Police believe Hall and Spurlock intended to rob Hall's drug dealer.
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