BANGOR, Maine — In Penobscot County Superior Court Monday, Olivia Babin was sentenced for the killing of her boyfriend Daniel Ford-Coates.
Babin changed her plea to guilty for her role in the shooting death of Ford-Coates in his Bangor apartment in April.
The judge argued that the shooting was "not malicious, but deeply reckless."
Babin, speaking in court, said she takes full responsibility for shooting Ford-Coates.
She said her actions came from a place of "horror, shock, and confusion," and that she was under the influence of drugs and alcohol when she killed Ford-Coates on April 2.
Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Ackerman said according to witnesses interviewed by Bangor police, Babin took Ford-Coates’ gun, wanting to scare the girls in the apartment below. She took the magazine out and then pushed the gun to Ford-Coates’ head saying, "You don’t think I will," and then pulled the trigger.
Babin then discarded the gun into a stream and changed her clothes before calling 911.
According to Ackerman, she also lied to law enforcement, saying one of Ford-Coates’ friends who was at the scene was the one who shot him.
The prosecution argued that these actions warranted more than the minimum four-year sentence for manslaughter.
In the courtroom, Ford-Coates’ friend, sister, stepmother, father, stepfather, and mother spoke, sharing their grief and pushing for a longer sentence for Babin.
"She had zero regard for Danny’s life," Steve Coates, Ford-Coates’ father, said after the sentencing.
Shannon Richard, Ford-Coates’ mother, said she believes Babin’s sentence was too low, and that manslaughter was not severe enough of a charge.
"It's a murder, she murdered our child. She made a choice to kill him, she made a choice to take his own legal firearm from him and kill him with it," Richard said.
Ford-Coates’ parents and stepparents expressed how they want their son to be remembered.
"Huge heart, would protect anybody, would stand up to the bullies," Coates said.
"You could be in the worst mood ever and he would change it in a heartbeat," Moses Richard, Ford-Coates’ stepfather, said.
"He was funny and bright and cared about other people's feelings, and he never wanted to hurt anyone," Shannon Richard said.
Babin will serve 20 years in prison with 10 years suspended.