DeAnna L. Meece was sentenced Friday morning to 94 months in prison for killing 26-year-old Ricky Nurnberg on June 17, 2009.
Meece, 25, pleaded no contest on Nov. 25 to a reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter, after having been charged initially with intentional second-degree murder.
Fifth District Judge Lee Fowler accepted Meece’s no-contest plea and found her guilty in Nurnberg’s death.
Lyon County Attorney Marc Goodman and defense attorney Don C. Krueger had negotiated a plea agreement that included a recommendation Meece be sentenced to 66 months in prison, based on what was then believed to be Meece’s criminal history.
A pre-sentence investigation revealed that Meece had a juvenile criminal record that included charges of battery and placed Meece on the D sentencing grid rather than the H grid.
Krueger had asked the judge for a durational departure in sentencing, saying that both defense and prosecution had negotiated the plea agreement in good faith, based on what they knew of Meece’s criminal record.
“Criminal history can’t be negotiated,” Fowler said during sentencing.
Fowler said a durational departure could not be granted without “substantial and compelling” reason.
“In this case, there is clear evidence that a homicide occurred and the defendant is responsible for that homicide,” Fowler said. “I can see no reason to deviate from the state’s establish guideline.”
The judge also said that after her release from prison, Meece would be placed on 36 months of supervised probation and would have to register as a criminal offender.
He gave Meece credit for 226 jail days already served since she was arrested on June 18. She also will have to pay $9,725.92 in restitution.
Before sentencing, Nurnberg’s relatives spoke to the court and to Meece about the way her actions had affected their lives.
Friends and relatives were identifiable by the T-shirts they wore, which read: “Remembering Ricky Nurnberg 1982-2009.”
His sister’s statement was read by a cousin, Brandy Baker.
“There’s a little girl out there that will never see her father again,” Baker read. “This was not accidental because you stabbed him twice. ...”
Meece cried silently and wiped her eyes as the statements were read.
“I hope the words you hear from us today give you the same amount of pain that we have to live with for the rest of our lives,” said Ricky’s Nurnberg’s brother, Justin.
He described his brother as being like Peter Pan, happy and fun-loving and he said he watched their mother fall apart after Ricky Nurnberg died.
“And I have lost a piece of her forever,” Justin Nurnberg said. “It was not just Ricky you killed. You also took a piece of each of our lives.”
He told Meece that he wanted her to remember for the rest of her life that she had killed Ricky Nurnberg.
“Wear it as a cloak of shame,” Justin Nurnberg said.
Meece sobbed when Nurnberg’s mother, Ann, came to the microphone to give her victim’s impact statement.
The sentencing today was delayed two hours when Ann Nurnberg was involved in a rollover accident en route to the hearing this morning.
“The hardest thing in the world is to pick out a coffin for your child and bury him in the ground,” Ann Nurnberg said. “I’ve changed. I’m not the same person. ... Ricky’s on my mind 24/7.”
She said that in order to be able to rest, she’d been sleeping for the past seven months with one of the stuffed animals her son had as a child.
“I cannot put it down,” she said. “I have talked to Ricky a few times and he tells me he’s all right, but I’m not.”
Ann Nurnberg said she wanted sentencing laws changed for crimes such as the one that killed her son. Stabbing a person once was different than stabbing him twice.
“If you stab them a second time, that’s to kill,” Ann Nurnberg said, as Meece shook her head no.
Nurnberg was stabbed to death in an altercation June 17 at the home of a friend of Nurnberg and Meece.
A witness at the preliminary hearing said that the incident began with a quarrel that moved from the living room to the kitchen. When Meece and Nurnberg came back toward the living area, the witness heard a thud. When he looked up, he saw Nurnberg on the floor, bleeding from chest wounds. Meece was kneeling over him.
Meece fled from the apartment and went to a nearby convenience store, where she cleaned up and called friends for a ride. Later, she called police and was taken in for questioning.
The couple had a criminal record of domestic violence prosecutions in Emporia Municipal Court.
Nurnberg had entered a diversion agreement in conjunction with a domestic incident in December 2008. The agreement was to end on March 11, 2010, if requirements were met.
Both Meece and Nurnberg then were charged with battery, domestic violence, on March 28, 2009.
Nurnberg pleaded no contest to the March charge on June 4, less than two weeks before the stabbing.
Meece entered a diversion agreement on the battery charge on May 7.
Meece told Emporia police that a “no contact” order was issued through municipal court to prohibit contact between her and Nurnberg, according to an affidavit filed in the case.
The affidavit stated that she had been told by her diversion supervisor not to go to Nurnberg’s apartment. She went there on the evening of Tuesday, June 16, 2009, and remained there until the stabbing occurred the following evening.
Meece has been held in the Lyon County Jail in lieu of a $250,000 bond since she was charged.
“There’s no amount of words that can ease the pain in your hearts,” Meece said to the family before sentencing. “... I can say that I’m sorry a million times but it’s not going to bring him back. ...I wish we both had been strong enough to walk away” from each other.
Meece apologized for the pain she had caused the family, and said that Nurnberg’s death has given her the “worst pain I’ve ever known. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about him.
“I’m so sorry. My heart is filled with sadness. I lost someone I loved,” Meece said, crying as she spoke. “Please know from the bottom of my heart and with all that I am, I’m sorry.”
Comments
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madpoet (anonymous) says...
I would have thought they would have checked her criminal history under her maiden name before the plea agreement. Sounds pretty sloppy to me. Or pretty underhanded if it was intentional. Nothing will bring back Ricky but maybe having her in jail will give a little peace to his family and friends that she will be punished for her act. It was a tragic event and I'm praying for all involved and their family and friends.
January 30, 2010 at 8:21 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jamesbordonaro (James Bordonaro) says...
As an attorney in Emporia who practices criminal law, I can tell you that one of the hardest parts of my job is to ensure that the defendant in a plea bargin has been forthcoming about their prior criminal history as that is the most significant factor in affecting the sentence. Generally, the attorney will not have a way to independently verify a defendant's prior juvenile record on the computer at the courthouse because those records are sealed. An attorney could get access to the juvenile record but that requires the additional step of requesting a court order. I suspect in this situation, Meece mislead her attorney about her juvenile record (although perhaps she thought it wouldn't count). Catagory H is for a person who has only misdemeanors. Catagory D means you've had at least 1 person felony. Simple battery is not a felony even if she had been charged as an adult so there must have been other felonies as a juvenile. Additionally, I'd note that she is 25 which is the age at which some prior juvenile misdemeanors will "decay" for the purpose of calculating a criminal history. Whether she was 25 at the time of crime, I do not know.
January 30, 2010 at 9:18 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
biscuitboy (anonymous) says...
Very informative jamesbordonaro. It's good to hear openly from a real attorney on these boards rather than so many of us armchair wanna-be's....myself included!
January 30, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
anurnberg (anonymous) says...
On Jan.29th. I set in the courtroom & heard the judge in relief. He read my faimlies letters we sent & he openly said in court everything I had said in my letter. Deanna broke her probation when she went to Rickys place & she not only stab him once but twice. Th second time was to kill. For this I feel has easied some of the feelings I have had. 7.8yrs. is not enough but I do understand there are guidelines & I respect that. I feel the judge showed repect for Ricky's life with what he said & for that i thank him.. As for Deanna I do not hate her for what she has done but I can ever forgive her. My son loved her & she look his life. Yes,I rolled my car 9:30 on my why to Empoia,I have stiff neck & a brused left kindey. My 17yr.old grandson was with me thank God. He grabbed the hood of my sweatshirt twistted & held me back. Both wareing or setbelts. My grandson Shaun Nurnberg wasn't hurt.I believe my car is totaled. I will heal & my car can be replaced but Ricky will never heal & most diffently He can NEVER be replaced.I know Ricky was setting the set beside me on Jan.29th. "I Love You Ricky" & "I will always miss You till the day I die" Ricky's Momma"
January 30, 2010 at 10:16 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Hoss22 (anonymous) says...
I really dont know what to write or to say. I just got back from court and to believe that a woman could only get 96 months for killing a man in cold blood is simply ridiculous. Ricky and i had our falling out along time ago,but to look at his mother,friends and other family members there in the court room was overwhelming to me. I miss my best friend and my old partner in crime. It's not fair nor do i think that justice was served. I truely believe in an eye for an eye and a life for a life weather it be man or woman. I am baffled by the justice system here in kansas,and those of you who know me and what i have been through it might come as a shocker but now i know that life isnt fair and it is way too short to turn your back on anyone. Im done being the hard ass and all i want to do now is live my life to the fullest and take nothing for granted.Rip Ricky. I will see you when my time here is through.
January 30, 2010 at 11:24 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
bobhornet (anonymous) says...
This woman gets 94 months for taking a man's life. And Scott Roeder will be eligible for parole in 25 years (unless they get the Hard 50). Such is the sad state of justice in Kansas.
January 30, 2010 at 12:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
madpoet (anonymous) says...
Thanks for clearing that up, james.
Ann, I am so sorry for your loss. I hope you recover from your car accident. That was just the icing on your mud cake that morning! Try Douglas Chiropractic for your stiff neck, he did wonders for me when I got whiplash from being rear-ended.
I had a good friend murdered in cold blood while in college. My only advice try not to let the anger and hate at the killer consume you. I almost did. I finally worked thru it and forgave my friend's killer. I am glad he's in prison and will be for at least 2 more years (parole denied last year). Don't let this horrible event scar your soul. The pain will eventually get better. It may take years, but time wears it away gradually. Concentrate on how your friend lived, not how he died. That helped me.
January 30, 2010 at 12:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
venena_1 (anonymous) says...
I am in shock over her only recieving 94 months. To me that in nothing more than a slap on the hand. I totally agree with bob that our laws in cases like this are really crappy. not only in Kansas but in all states. I come from Az and trust me they aren't any better. A friend of mine was shot in the back while walking away and the guy who pulled the trigger was released on self defence charges cuz my friend had a gun in his waist band of his pants. Fact is he pulled the trigger as my friend had his back turned!!! several witnesses were there to see what happened. and yet the state charged his best friend with his death for moving him to the back of a truck to take him to seek medical attention. Wicked twisted laws!!! Ricky's life was WORTH WAY MORE THAN 94 MONTHS! I believe in everything Ann said in her statement. Stabbing once is one story but knowing what you did and the fact that he was bleeding and making the decision to stab him a second time took nerve. She knew exactly what she was setting out to accomplish when she did it the second time. I personally have lost some faith in our judicial system and am appalled that they didnt take all the steps needed to make sure they were totally and completely prepared b4 they offered her a plea. This goes out to you Ricky... Though you are no longer here with us on this earth you are loved and missed dearly and not a days go by that you aren't thought of.
Amber Clayborn
January 31, 2010 at 2:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
nothing_but_angels (anonymous) says...
First of all my heart goes out to all that is involved. I have never lost someone the way that you all did. If you sit back and look at a couple of things there is something wrong with this picture. If you get caught selling drugs or making them you will get alot more time in prision than you would for killing someone. I dont understand that one at all. It is almost like they are saying that it is better to kill someone than to be involed in drugs. Dont get me wrong I dont approve of either one. I also agree that it should be an eye for an eye or a life for a life. Once again my heart and prayers for Ricki's family.
February 3, 2010 at 6:21 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )