Sain, an 18-year-old former West Carrollton High School student, had nothing to say before Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Barbara Gorman’s sentence on charges of murder and tampering with evidence.
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Gorman’s decision came months after Sain disrupted an apparent deal by seeking to withdraw his guilty pleas to both charges and parting ways with defense attorney Patrick Mulligan.
Surprising both prosecutors and his then-defense attorney, Sain in September abruptly changed his mind minutes before Gorman was initially set to impose the same sentence she handed down Wednesday.
Defense attorney Lucas Wilder then became Sain’s attorney, and Gorman restricted access to court records in the shooting, which police said occurred in the parking lot of the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton off Ohio 741.
In December, the defendant waived his attorney/client privilege with Mulligan and testified Graham was shot in self-defense during a struggle after what was described as a drug deal gone wrong.
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Wilder, who noted his late arrival in the case, told Gorman Wednesday Sain “has been nothing but respectful to me….That’s important for the record to show.”
Prosecutors told Gorman there were no victim impact statements. Graham’s relatives had addressed the court in September and were present “at all proceedings,” according to the state.
However, none were in court Wednesday, prosecutors said.
Specifically, Sain was sentenced to 15 years to life on a murder charge and an accompanying three-year sentence on a gun specification would be served consecutively, Gorman said. Those 18 years will be served concurrently with a three-year term on the tampering with evidence charge, the judge said.
Sain has been in custody since shortly after the shooting and will get credit for 517 days served, Gorman said.
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Miami Twp. police have said they have never recovered the gun used in the fatal shooting.
Two female West Carrollton High School students testified in juvenile court they were with Sain and Graham during what they both described as a drug deal gone bad.
The two witnesses testified last year that the defendant pulled a gun on Graham as Sain and he were in the midst of a marijuana transaction.
They said while in Sain’s car at the DoubleTree, Sain’s actions caused a struggle with he and Graham wrestling in the back seat before both spilled out the passenger side door.
They were wrestling on the ground when the gun fired, the two witnesses said.
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