Young Woman Avoids Death Penalty, Receives Probation
June, 2007
Kathi Shelton hung around with people who made her feel good about herself and who accepted her despite her life-altering injuries suffered in a nearly fatal car wreck during her senior year of high school. Unfortunately, during one week of off-and-on partying, some of these people decided to go out an rob and beat a wheel-chair bound man to death, and his brother nearly to death, in their own home. Though, one of the killers was Kathi's boyfriend, Kathi was not with them when they committed their heinous acts. Nonetheless, Kathi was charged with Complicity to Commit Robbery and Murder and initially faced the death penalty as a possible punishment. Through the hard work of Mark Stanziano, the charges were reduced to one count of Receiving Stolen Property (some of the brother's property was in her car) and one count of Facilitating the Manufacture of Methamphetamine and Kathi received a sentence of five years imprisonment, probated. Read more about the case here.