Mother of seven-year-old fatally beaten by father disgusted with plea deal for Leslie Schuler WORCESTER -- Leslie Schuler was sentenced Thursday to a life sentence, with the possibility of parole in 15 years, for fatally beating his son during a Fathers Day visit in 2009. The possibility of parole has angered the victims family. Family members speaking at Schulers sentencing Thursday said they were deeply disappointed in the plea deal, which allowed Schuler to escape first-degree murder -- and life in prison without the possibility of parole -- in the 2009 death of his seven-year-old son, Nathaniel Turner. The Commonwealth dragged my family through four and a half years... to allow Leslie Schuler to account for his own fate, Nathaniels mother, Alicia Turner, told the judge. I’m disgusted with the results.” Schuler, 41, of Worcester, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Tuesday, minutes before his trial was expected to begin. Prosecutors said Schuler beat Nathaniel in Schulers Worcester apartment while the boy was visiting from Alabama. Nathaniels family said they spent nearly five years making the journey from their home in Alabama to Worcester for court hearings, hoping Schuler would finally get what they considered justice. Justice, Nathaniels grandmother Christine Richardson told the court, would be life in prison without parole. Because Nathaniel is the one paying the price... Richardson said. He took his life. He took everything. So I beg you to take everything from him.” In the end, Judge Daniel Wrenn was bound by the law to sentence Schuler to life, with the possibility of parole. Assistant District Attorney Courtney Sans told the judge prosecutors offered the plea deal after careful consideration of the strength of their case. Much of the evidence came from Schulers own statements to police, which were the subject of a motion to suppress, she said. Schulers fiancé at the time, Tiffany Hyman, was also expected to testify for the prosecution. But she has also been charged in connection with the boys death. Hyman and Schuler were the only two people who had access to Nathaniel at the time he was injured, Sans said. In the end, the district attorneys offices goal was to ensure the safety of the community at large, Sans said. The plea meant Schuler would have no access to children for the rest of his life. Schuler, wearing grey sweats with hands cuffed in front of him, sat with his head down throughout the hearing. In an emotional hearing, family members told the judge through tears about Nathaniel, a cheerful boy who was so excited to spend the summer with his father. Schuler had no contact with Nathaniel under the summer of 2009, when he drove 1,200 miles to Alabama to pick him up. Two months later, on Fathers Day, Nathaniel was dead. My son wanted to meet this man, he was proud to say that he was his father,” Alicia Turner said. “I wish that he never met him… I wish he kept his distance as he did for the first seven years.” The boys grandmother, Richardson, was his primary caregiver. She read a poem Nathaniel wrote for Mothers Day that began, I love the way you look at me with a smile in your eyes. Thats the joy of my day, every day, Richardson said.
Posted on: Mon, 12 May 2014 18:46:04 +0000
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