>> RELATED: Man found guilty of killing pregnant woman, unborn child in Dayton 2018 shooting
Prosecutors in a sentencing memorandum asked the judge sentence Leigh to the maximum of 46 years to life in prison.
“In reviewing the seriousness factors, the magnitude of the loss inflicted by the defendant cannot be understated,” the memorandum says. “Defendant effectively ended two lives with his actions that night. His sentence should be reflective of not only the loss of Keyona Murray, but also reflective of the termination of her pregnancy, and therein the loss of a life that never got to be as a result of Defendant’s callous actions.”
Prosecutors also said that they were concerned about the community’s safety after he gets out of prison.
Meanwhile, the defense asked that the judge sentence him to the minimum 21 years to life in prison. They said that the judge should take Leigh’s age into consideration and order him to serve all the counts at the same time instead of back-to-back.
“We don’t know where Brandon will be down the road,” defense attorney David Miles said. “Hopefully he’ll turn out to be a good citizen.”
Leigh also spoke during the sentencing.
“I just want to say sorry to the people. I’m sorry for their loss,” he said. “I want to apologize for anything they thought I might have did.”
Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Richard Skelton said before sentencing Leigh that he took into account Leigh’s age and that Leigh hasn’t owned responsibility for the crime when making his decision.
“Mr. Leigh has stood up in front of the court and expressed to the people who suffered the loss that he is sorry. But I note that he even at this point, he said ‘what they thought I might have done.’ I believed he testified in the case and denied he had any involvement in this.”
Skelton said taking responsibility is the first step to righting a wrong. The judge also ordered Leigh to help pay for the funeral costs.
The defense said during the hearing that they plan to appeal the conviction.
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