Source: Triblive.com.
USA – A Jeannette woman convicted last year in the fatal bludgeoning of her teen-aged boyfriend insisted in court on Monday she did not intend for him to die.
Crystal Belle, 40, said during her sentencing hearing she cared deeply for her 19-year-old boyfriend, Khalil Parker, even as she used the wooden handle of a snow shovel to repeatedly beat him during one of many violent incidents involving the couple at their South Seventh Street home.
“He was a willing participant. If he was here today we would be fighting. I didn’t torture him,” Belle said. “I’m telling you I never hit him and wanted him to die. If I was obsessive and jealous you don’t want him to die. I did not want him to die.”
Following a six-day trial in October, a Westmoreland County jury convicted Belle of third-degree murder. Prosecutors contended she intended to kill Parker and had sought a first-degree murder finding, a verdict that would have resulted in a life prison sentence.
Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani sentenced Belle to serve 15 to 30 years in prison.
“No sentence will make things better for the victim’s family. Nothing will bring Khalil back. Your conduct did reflect a conscious indifference to human life,” Feliciani said.
Prosecutors at trial said Belle and Parker engaged in sexual games and bondage scenarios that turned violent and ultimately resulted in his death in June 2016.
Parker sustained more than 100 injuries over his body, including a head wound and smaller cuts and bruises that appeared on his neck, chest, arms, legs and genitals. His autopsy revealed he died from not one specific wound but a loss of blood from a cumulative effect of all of his injuries, according to the prosecution.
At trial, the prosecution suggested Belle used the snow shovel and a wooden plank to bludgeon Parker in the head as he was tied to the bed then attempted to clean and sanitize her home before she dragged Parker down the stairs and called for an ambulance.
Belle’s comments in court on Monday were in contrast to testimony she gave at trial.
Belle told jurors she and Parker participated in sexual domination and bondage. She testified they used shoelaces to tie each other to a bed and inflict pain on their partner with the handle of a snow shovel or wooden board. Belle told jurors that, the night before Parker’s death, she became enraged when he inserted the shovel into her body against her will and later tried to force her to perform a sex act.
She said she responded violently, threw the shovel handle at him, jabbed at Parker with scissors and used pliers to attack his genitals as he ran naked out of the room. She testified the fight eventually ended and they went to sleep. She claimed that, when she awoke the next morning, Parker wasn’t home and didn’t return for hours. Belle testified Parker finally returned home with a head wound she couldn’t explain.
In court on Monday, Parker’s sister and father each said his death came much too soon.
“Every day is hard. He was my only son and he wasn’t a bad kid. I’m just torn up. I don’t know what to say,” said Parker’s father, Dewayne Morris. “We loved him and miss him so much. The way it was done was ruthless. He was only 19 years old and had his whole life ahead of him.”
