Sonya Fick’s plea agreement was accepted two days shy of the one-year anniversary of the murder of Steven L. Carman.
Fick, 43, Warsaw, was sentenced Tuesday to 65 years in prison with the last 20 years suspended for count I, murder; and 20 years prison time on count II, attempted murder, with no time suspended. A third count, burglary, was dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
Fick will serve the sentences consecutively starting with count II because it is 20 years of straight time. Ten years of probation will follow her incarceration.
Fick offered to plead guilty Nov. 19 to two felony counts – the murder of 51-year-old Carman and the attempted murder of Glant, 54, in Carman’s home near Pierceton Dec. 18, 2013.
Police say Fick broke into Carman’s home at 44 EMS B10 Lane, Pierceton, where she hid in a closet. When Carman arrived at the home, Fick emerged from the closet and started shooting.
Carman died from multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and head. He also suffered multiple knife wounds to the back. Fick also shot Glant, but he managed to escape to a neighbor’s residence to call for help. The couple’s two children witnessed the shootings.
Special Judge Curtis D. Palmer, Marshall County Circuit Court, discussed the pre-sentencing investigation to a courtroom filled with Carman’s family. Included in the pre-sentencing investigation were letters from Carman’s family addressed to Sonya, as well as a letter from Dr. Stephen Ross, a psychologist from Fort Wayne.
In the pre-sentencing investigation Fick was deemed competent during the night of the murder.
Before hearing her sentence, Fick produced a letter she wrote to Carman’s family. Due to her nerves, her attorney, Anthony S. Churchward, read the letter out loud to the courtroom.
In her letter, she apologized for the hurt she brought to Carman’s family. She wrote she was very remorseful and said that “nothing justifies my actions.” She wrote that this process has helped her deal with her past and learn about denial and responsibility.
She also wrote that she hopes her daughters can one day forgive her for “taking both of their parents away from them.”
Carman’s family requested that Fick have no communication with the family while she is serving her sentence. Churchward requested that Fick receive mental health treatment and that she have an expedited transfer to prison, although officials were unsure of where she would be serving her sentence.
Prosecuting Attorney Daniel Hampton said she will be transported to the reception and diagnostic center in a week or two.
(Story By The Times Union)
