Staff writer
Chad Carr briefly appeared Tuesday morning before Judge Richard Walker in Harvey County District Court for sentencing in the death of 19-month old Vincent Hill.
Carr, 28, pled guilty to a charge of second-degree murder in Hill’s death as well as three counts of aggravated battery and one count of child abuse at a Nov. 3, 2011 hearing.
On Tuesday, Walker sentenced him to the maximum prison time for each offense and told Carr he would be required to serve all the sentences consecutively.
Carr will serve 241 months with the possibility of a 36.15-month reduction for good behavior. Once released, Carr will be required to spend 36 months under post-release supervision and register as a convicted offender.
Walker also told Carr that if there was anything in the court proceedings to appeal, Carr would need to present that appeal within 14 days.
Walker offered Carr the opportunity to make a statement and Carr said, “The only thing I can say is I am sorry it happened and if I could change it, I would.”
Walker himself offered a statement before passing sentence.
“I don’t have a lot of discretion for sentencing because I agreed to follow the plea agreement,” he said. “But I have had several months to think about this and I want to state my feelings.
“The awfulness and horror of seeing the photographs of what happened to this child are similar to the horror one feels when watching the aftermath of something like the earthquake or tsunami in Japan.
“Except,” he added, “this was not a natural disaster. Vincent Hill’s death was preventable — he did not have to die.”
Walker acknowledged that many people were angry about the baby’s death.
“But anger is only effective in a case like this if it is directed to be helpful in the future,” he said.
“Unless we can figure out how to prevent this kind of abuse, there will always be Vincent Hills in this county and others in the state of Kansas.”
Walker remanded Carr to the custody of the Kansas Department of Corrections.