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Convicted murderer sentenced to life |
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Tuesday, 29 April 2008 |
 | Sargeant
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by JEFF KOEHLER
Intern News Reporter
by MEGAN NAYLOR
Intern News Reporter
Neil M. Sargeant, on trial for the murder of Appalachian State University student Steven W. Harrington, was sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole Thursday morning.
Harrington’s family members provided emotional testimony before the sentencing.
“My oldest son Steven is dead,” the victim’s mother Julie Harrington said. “All of us have been given a life sentence of unimaginable pain.”
She continued, “Our hopes and dreams are the same as every parent’s…we should be able to see him graduate college.”
Harrington’s sister, Ashley Harrington, spoke after her mother.
“I spend every single day and minute thinking about him,” she said.
“I’ll never know how it feels to have the support of a brother.”
Tim Harrington, the victim’s father, concluded the family’s statements.
“Steven was a great kid growing up, and he was maturing into a wonderful young man,” he said.
Tim Harrington also spoke about the nature of the situation in which Harrington had become involved.
“How does a kid with so many attributes get involved in something like [drugs]?” he asked.
He said his family believes his son had no idea of who and what he was
getting involved with when he began associating with Sargeant.
The defense presented a statement from Sargeant to the victim’s family, as well as some of the defendant’s own personal history.
In the statement, Sargeant told the family he was deeply sorry for their loss.
The defense counsel said Sargeant had a rough upbringing and was
abandoned by his father at 3 years old. Also, his biological mother
left her children later due to an inability to care for them.
Judge Ronald K. Payne delivered the court’s sentence.
“Mr. Sargeant, these folks have shown more compassion under these
circumstances than other folks that I have seen in similar
circumstances,” he said before reading the sentence.
For the murder charges against him, Payne told Sargeant he would be
incarcerated in the North Carolina Department of Corrections for the
duration of his natural life, with no chance for parole.
He also sentenced Sargeant to over 15 years in prison for the
additional charges of robbery, kidnapping and burning of personal
property, to be served upon the completion of the murder sentence.
The prosecution also submitted a restitution worksheet for monetary
compensation of $3,884 for the funeral service expenses and counseling
for Harrington’s family.
In response to the sentencing, the prosecution made a request for
Sargeant not be incarcerated in the same prison as Kyle Q. Triplett and
Matthew B. Dalrymple, the other two defendants in the murder case.
Payne said he had no jurisdiction determining which prison would house Sargeant.
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