Killer given 10-year sentence

WAPAKONETA - Tears and sobs were plentiful inside an Auglaize County courtroom Wednesday morning. Friends and family of a Lima man gunned down in November wept. Supporters of the defendant sobbed and wiped tears from their eyes. The defendant, Matthew Pennington, sat silent and emotionless.

Emotions ran high even before Pennington, 22, of Spencerville, shackled and flanked by two sheriff's deputies, walked into the courtroom, his shackles clanking as he walked. Even as a judge sentenced him to 10 years in prison for voluntary manslaughter in the death of Daniel R. King, 23, Pennington sat expressionless.

"On Nov. 2, 2007, Dan went to help a friend, which is something every one of us has done. That's when I feel the series of bad decisions started and as a result my son is dead," Dennis King, the victim's father, said objecting to the plea deal offered by Prosecutor Edwin Pierce to Pennington. "In my opinion, the bad decisions just keep on happening. I can't in my mind make any reason of [Pierce's] reasons. We've had three or four meetings with the prosecutor and expressed our wishes and honestly I think our wishes went unheard. I believe the prosecutor had his mind made up early on in this case that a plea bargain would be the best solution."

Pennington pleaded guilty in March to voluntary manslaughter. Pennington received the maximum penalty allowed, 10 years in prison. Judge Frederick Pepple also ordered Pennington to pay $14,571.46 in restitution and serve five years probation upon his release from prison.

Pennington had faced more serious charges in the Nov. 2 shooting death of Daniel R. King at a farmhouse near Kossuth. A grand jury indicted Pennington on charges including murder, felonious assault, involuntary manslaughter, aggravated menacing and reckless homicide. The combination of charges could have put him behind bars for life.

"I do not believe it's the best for society and all of us sitting here today. This case has been decided by two people, not 12 of the defendant's peers, the way it should have been handled," King said. "A confessed murderer could be on the streets again in the maximum of 10 short years."

Clutching a photo of her son on his 23rd birthday, Toni King, the victim's mother also took the stand.

"Dan was kind and loving to everyone he would meet," Toni King said. "If you look in this courtroom you can see that he has touched so many people with his love."

Toni King lamented observing Mother's Day for the first time without her son.

"On Nov. 7, 2007, before they closed my son's casket, I gave him his last kiss, touched his beautiful face for the very last time," Toni King said through sobs. "I will always love my son, Dan. My tears flow every day because I cannot share his life with him any more because his life was taken away."

Security was tight for the hearing. Officials from several police agencies assisted in providing security, putting a metal detector near the entrance.

"I know a little bit about grief. I know there's nothing I can say to relieve it," Pepple said. "I know there are people who made extremely poor judgments in this case. When young people get involved with alcohol irresponsibly bad things can happen to good people."

Pennington's attorney, Mark Weller, told the court when a fight broke out at the farmhouse on the night of the fatal shooting, a number of people not originally at the party, including Daniel King, made threats to get guns and return to the farmhouse.

Pepple said there was no excuse for what happened. Pepple blamed the shooting on saving face on "the pride of young guys, stupidity, ignorance, loss of control."

"I have come to accept on a personal basis that we will never understand God's plan," Pepple said. "We will never understand why some are taken and some are not."