Champaign County Common Pleas Court Judge Nick Selvaggio sentenced him to 11 years on the manslaughter charge and three years on each of the other three felony charges. The judge also added five years parole to the sentence.
“I loved my dad and I feel real bad about what happened,” Myers said to the judge during the hearing. “It was never my intention to kill my father.”
Jerald Myers, 65, died over Memorial Day weekend last year. He suffered multiple serious injuries, including blunt-force head trauma, facial lacerations and bruising on the neck, according to Champaign County Coroner Joshua Richards.
Former Clark County Sheriff’s deputy Matthew Kerns, 39, of Springfield, pleaded guilty in September to attempted obstructing official business and was sentenced Monday to spend 30 days on house arrest and two years probation. Kerns threw away a letter written to him by his relative, Christopher Myers, that detailed Jerald Myers’ death, said Champaign County Prosecutor Kevin Talebi.
Part of the questions surrounding Kerns’ was case was his role as a sheriff’s deputy and whether he was “acting as a public official” at the time when he destroyed the note, Talebi said. But the judge ruled Kerns acted in a personal manner, and outside of his jurisdiction as a deputy.
Kerns told the judge he did not throw away the letter with the intent to disrupt the Urbana Police Department’s evidence collection in the homicide case. But Talebi said that as a deputy, Kerns knew the result of his actions.
“I’m not a bad guy, I just made a bad choice,” Kerns said to the judge Monday. “I’ve always lived a law-abiding life.”
In Tri-County Jail phone recordings between Myers and Kerns, Kerns admitted he knew the letters could be used against him, Talebi added.
“I wanted to point out to the court very clearly by reading parts of the transcript from the jail phone calls that clearly showed the defendant knew that he had evidence, he was in possession of evidence and he specifically destroyed that evidence,” Talebi said.
Kerns resigned from his position at the Clark County Sheriff’s Office when he pleaded guilty to the charge in September. He began his house arrest Monday after his sentencing.
In court Monday morning, more details of the violent incident between Jerald and Christopher Myers were revealed.
Christopher Myers claimed his father came at him with a knife, Myers told the judge in court.
The prosecution also detailed the injuries Jerald Myers sustained. The father had multiple stab wounds and lacerations on his face, the back of his head and throat, Talebi said.
Myers admitted both he and his father were drinking throughout the day before they got into a fight at their home, according to court records.
The judge also questioned Christopher Myers on his history of domestic violence, which includes prior convictions where his father was a victim.
Myers will spend at least 10 years in prison before he is eligible for parole, according to court records.
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