Judge hands out 58-year murder sentence

The father of a teenage murder victim watched Monday as the last of four co-defendants was sentenced to 58 years in prison.

And he felt sorry for them.

"I feel sorry for those that were sentenced because their lives are gone now," said John Woosley, the father of Caleb Woosley, whose badly beaten body was found on May 18, 2014, in a Richmond alley. "It's all just a big mess."

Judge Charles Todd Jr. issued the 58-year prison sentence along with three years of probation to Deandre Plant in Wayne County Superior Court I. He credited Plant with 492 days of time served and 492 days of good time.

Todd had heard sentencing arguments last week from Wayne County Prosecutor Mike Shipman and defense counsel Austin Shadle.

Plant, 20, who was convicted of murder on Dec. 10 by a jury after a four-day trial, received the longest total sentence of the co-defendants. He was stoic as he heard Todd's decision, wearing a striped Wayne County Jail jumpsuit and an orange jail jacket.

Plant and Kore Buchanan were convicted of being the two who beat Woosley with aluminum baseball bats in the north-side alley after luring him there under the premise of urinating.

Todd sentenced Buchanan, 18, to 58 years in prison and two years of probation.

Michael Pruitt, 18, admitted to serving as the lookout while Woosley was being beaten. He reached a plea agreement with the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office for 45 years in prison and 10 years of probation on a murder charge.

David A. Maish, 20, reached a plea agreement on a Class C felony charge of assisting a criminal for providing latex gloves and for helping Plant and Buchanan clean up and hide evidence. He was sentenced to two years in prison and six years of probation but has since had five years of that probation revoked because he violated his plea agreement.

Maish had agreed to provide complete and truthful testimony against his co-defendants but was found in contempt of court for his actions on the witness stand during Buchanan's trial and for refusing to testify during Plant's trial.

Maish is serving a 180-day sentence for contempt during Buchanan's trial and will serve 150 days for contempt during Plant's trial, all consecutive to the five years of revoked probation.

Monday's hearing was the final scheduled local court proceeding in the cases against the four co-defendants, although Plant indicated he planned an appeal.

Through it all, Woosley's parents, John and Kimberly, have sat through heart-breaking testimony. On Monday, they said the ordeal never will truly end.

"I'm glad (the court) part of it is over," John Woosley said, "but I'm never going to get over it. I still cry all the time just like it happened yesterday."

He indicated he was satisfied with Plant's sentence.

"I can't say I'm happy because everybody's lives are screwed up over this," he said.

Todd issued an aggravated sentence. Murder carries a range of 45 to 65 years, with a 55-year advisory sentence.

He found Plant's criminal history, which includes three convictions as an adult and juvenile infractions, as a moderate aggravator. He also gave significant weight to the nature and circumstances of the "heinous" crime.

"The nature of the beating of Mr. Woosley was savage and brutal," Todd said. "It was a senseless, violent act giving no regard for human life."

Todd also considered Plant's actions since Woosley's killing as an aggravator. Plant is accused of two felonies and four misdemeanors he allegedly committed on June 3, 2014. Any penalties from those charges would be served consecutively to the murder sentence, Todd said.

Plant also was convicted of mischief for doing more than $750 in damages to the Wayne County Jail on Jan. 28, 2015.

Todd granted minimal mitigation to Plant's young age at the time of the crime (19), for Plant's showing remorse, to Plant's claim of mental illness and to Plant's difficult childhood.

Plant's mother testified during the Jan. 25 hearing that he was molested by an uncle as a child and that Plant spent much of his childhood in foster care.

"Many children have difficult childhoods without committing murder at 19," Todd said.