![](https://i.imgur.com/CLvY2jA.png")
01-07-2023, 04:31 PM
Andrea Blanco
Sat, 1 July 2023 at 9:56 am SGT
Austin Salyer was lying in bed when he was fatally struck by a bullet his neighbour accidentally fired through the wall that separated their apartments.
......
Austin’s killer, 24-year-old Gabriel Brown, was convicted of criminally negligent homicide. However, the 180-day jail sentence Brown was given and the judge’s choice to then reduce it to just 90 days have left the Salyers in a seemingly endless search for answers. The judge’s and Hays County prosecutors’ refusal to explain that sentencing has only exacerbated their frustration.
......
Hays County prosecutors working on the case and Brown’s attorney reached a plea deal that resulted in the initial 180-day sentence. The Salyers hadn’t agreed with the charges of negligent homicide or the decision to skip a trial, but they came to terms with the results the system had delivered, they said.
......
the judge first sentenced Mr Brown to serve a total of 18 days in prison every year - nine of them for Austin’s birthday, and nine others for the anniversary of his death. But with a five-year probation, that only equalled a 90-day sentence.
The judge then corrected herself, noting that every separate sentence would be 18 days, bringing the total of days Brown would spend in jail to 36 every year, and 180 in the five years of probation. He was also given community service and was ordered to pay a small restitution to the Salyers.
But court records show that at some point in the following days, the bi-yearly 18-day sentence was scratched out and changed to nine.
......
A later amendment indicated the change was made by the judge, but did not explain the reasoning behind it. The Salyers allege they were not made aware of the change
......
court officials have never bothered to explain to them what exactly led up to the sudden sentencing change.
......
Austin’s parents have now filed a civil lawsuit against Brown, his father and his girlfriend, who is believed to have been in his apartment around the time the shooting took place. They said that’s their last recourse to seek accountability.
“And so that’s kind of the point we’re at now. It’s more about trying to understand why the justice system has failed Austin, why the justice system has failed us, why it’s failed his friends, and why it’s failed society as a whole,” Mr Salyer says.
......
“And to this day, again, we’re almost approaching two years. He has not once said, ‘I’m sorry.’ He has not once said, ‘Can you forgive me? There’s been no remorse,” Mr Salyer adds. “And that’s really what this story is about. We’re depending on the justice system to get accountability for his actions ... What little sentence he has is temporary. Ours is for the rest of our lives.”
A lot more at: https://sg.news.yahoo.com/austin-salyer-...49351.html
Sat, 1 July 2023 at 9:56 am SGT
Austin Salyer was lying in bed when he was fatally struck by a bullet his neighbour accidentally fired through the wall that separated their apartments.
......
Austin’s killer, 24-year-old Gabriel Brown, was convicted of criminally negligent homicide. However, the 180-day jail sentence Brown was given and the judge’s choice to then reduce it to just 90 days have left the Salyers in a seemingly endless search for answers. The judge’s and Hays County prosecutors’ refusal to explain that sentencing has only exacerbated their frustration.
......
Hays County prosecutors working on the case and Brown’s attorney reached a plea deal that resulted in the initial 180-day sentence. The Salyers hadn’t agreed with the charges of negligent homicide or the decision to skip a trial, but they came to terms with the results the system had delivered, they said.
......
the judge first sentenced Mr Brown to serve a total of 18 days in prison every year - nine of them for Austin’s birthday, and nine others for the anniversary of his death. But with a five-year probation, that only equalled a 90-day sentence.
The judge then corrected herself, noting that every separate sentence would be 18 days, bringing the total of days Brown would spend in jail to 36 every year, and 180 in the five years of probation. He was also given community service and was ordered to pay a small restitution to the Salyers.
But court records show that at some point in the following days, the bi-yearly 18-day sentence was scratched out and changed to nine.
......
A later amendment indicated the change was made by the judge, but did not explain the reasoning behind it. The Salyers allege they were not made aware of the change
......
court officials have never bothered to explain to them what exactly led up to the sudden sentencing change.
......
Austin’s parents have now filed a civil lawsuit against Brown, his father and his girlfriend, who is believed to have been in his apartment around the time the shooting took place. They said that’s their last recourse to seek accountability.
“And so that’s kind of the point we’re at now. It’s more about trying to understand why the justice system has failed Austin, why the justice system has failed us, why it’s failed his friends, and why it’s failed society as a whole,” Mr Salyer says.
......
“And to this day, again, we’re almost approaching two years. He has not once said, ‘I’m sorry.’ He has not once said, ‘Can you forgive me? There’s been no remorse,” Mr Salyer adds. “And that’s really what this story is about. We’re depending on the justice system to get accountability for his actions ... What little sentence he has is temporary. Ours is for the rest of our lives.”
A lot more at: https://sg.news.yahoo.com/austin-salyer-...49351.html
