Updated: 10/16/2008 12:10:48 AM
A man convicted of helping an accused murderer avoid the law has been sentenced to 18 years in prison, the maximum sentence.
In April, a federal jury convicted Boyd as an accessory after the fact for helping an accused carjacker and murderer hide from police.
Lemaricus Davidson is one of four defendants charged with killing a young couple in January 2007.
Channon Christian and Chris Newsom were raped, tortured, and killed. Investigators say the young couple was on a date when they were carjacked at the Washington Ridge Apartments and taken to a house on Chipman Street.
Sentencing for the first defendant connected to the brutal rapes and murders of a Knox County couple was capped off by emotional statements from the couple's families.
Chris Newsom's sister Andrea Bowers, his mother Mary Newsom, and his father Hugh Newsom all gave statements to the court.
Hugh Newsom showed pictures of Chris Newsom and Channon Christian and asked how anyone could harm them.
Channon Christian's father, Gary Christian, said his daughter was beautiful, and how her only wish was to have four children, and that won't happen now.
Gary Christian said the family was very proud of their daughter.
"I'll bet your mom is real proud of you," he said, looking at Eric Boyd.
"I hate Eric Boyd," he told the court.
"Don't you ever think for one second we don't know what you did. I hate you beyond your comprehension," he told Eric Boyd.
In making his own statement, Eric Boyd described to Judge Thomas Varlan the series of events as he remembered them.
"I'm asking for the mercy of the court. I didn't have to do this, but I did it to make sure this man (Davidson) didn't hurt nobody else," Boyd said.
Testimony in Judge Thomas Varlan's courtroom began with U.S. Probation Officer Myra Melton Buffalo talking at length about Eric Boyd's criminal history and the factors she believes are relevant to sentencing in this case.
Wednesday morning, defense attorney Phil Lomanaco told the judge his client deserved a lesser sentence because he led police to where Davidson was hiding.
Lomonaco also argues his client's crime should not be considered aiding and abetting in the carjacking, as he said Eric Boyd did not find out about the carjacking until after he had helped Davidson break into a house to hide from police.
The prosecution told the court the defendant's criminal history of assaultive robberies, victimization, and gun violence were enough to warrant the maximum sentence.
Buffalo testified Boyd's criminal career started at age 14 with a breaking-and-entering and vandalism charge.
Buffalo also testified that Boyd admitted in police interrogation to involvement in 9 armed robberies in 1994, between March and May. In a transcript, he told police he was trying to raise $2500 to pay off money he owed a drug dealer, for drugs.
In some of those robberies, Buffalo said Boyd admitted to being an armed robber. In others, he said a co-defendant robbed the store, and Boyd drove the get-away car.
Judge Varlan is expected to announce a sentence shortly.
