"Eric Sweeney, now 19, had been living with his older brother's family in Northfield for three years when he fatally shot Kassandra Sweeney, 25, and her sons, 4-year-old Benjamin and 23-month-old Mason, in August 2022."
"At a sentencing hearing Friday, defense lawyers will seek a prison term of 40 years to life, based in part on the "immeasurable trauma" Sweeney suffered as a child, including a mother who "dragged him through drug dens and a succession of abusive father figures.""
""Benjamin and Mason embody the reason why crimes against children deserve the harshest of penal sanctions. They did absolutely nothing wrong, they were innocent and utterly blameless for what the defendant did," Assistant Attorney General Bethany Durand wrote in her sentencing memo. "Their murders deserve separate, consecutive sentences.""
Eric Sweeney, now 19, fatally shot his sister-in-law Kassandra Sweeney, 25, and her sons Benjamin, 4, and Mason, 23 months, in August 2022 after living with the family for three years. He originally faced first-degree murder charges but pleaded guilty in August to second-degree murder counts. Defense attorneys seek 40 years to life, citing childhood trauma including exposure to drug dens and abusive father figures. Prosecutors seek consecutive terms totaling decades—35 years to life for the woman and 40 years to life for each child—with up to 18 years potentially suspended for rehabilitation milestones. Kassandra worked nights as a nursing assistant and cared for her children by day.
Read at Boston.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]