A packed courtroom of more than 75 people greeted Taylor Roxann Kirby as she arrived for her sentencing hearing Thursday for the killing of her husband, Justin Kirby.
She was sentenced to 22 years in prison — 17 years for voluntary manslaughter and another five for a firearm enhancement charge.
“It’s a tragedy,” Judge Marc Kellams of the Monroe County Circuit Court said. “But nothing I do today can bring him back.”
The hearing lasted more than four hours as attorneys and family members spoke about Taylor killing her husband on Sept. 26, 2015.
“Taylor, you have taken him away from us,” said Ariel Flynn, Justin’s niece. “You’re not God, and you don’t have the right to take away a life.”
Taylor pled guilty to killing her husband under a plea deal that reduced the charges from murder to voluntary manslaughter in October.
In September 2015, Taylor told law enforcement she arrived at her husband’s house to speak to him.
Their two children were at the residence at the time and were playing outside.
When she arrived, she and Justin began to argue, and she told Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Detective Jeff Ripley she felt threatened by Justin and hid herself in the bedroom of the residence, Ripley said.
While in the bedroom, Taylor picked up and loaded a .380 black Ruger handgun.
Ripley said in a probable cause affidavit Taylor reported her husband came after her and she shot him after he attacked her.
However, there was no evidence of physical injury, and Taylor admitted in court Justin had never hurt her before.
Ripley said ballistic evidence and bullet trajectories indicated Taylor’s husband was shot in the side and in the buttocks, not in the front as Taylor claimed.
“It appeared he was shot as he tried to run away,” Ripley said. “I don’t think there was a single shot to the front.”
At the time of the shooting, their children were present and both heard the shots and saw their father’s body, said Sandy Kirby, Justin’s adoptive mother.
Sandy said her grandson told her Justin’s final words were “stop shooting,” as he tried to flee the residence.
Justin also suffered from what is called rod-cone dystrophy and was legally blind.
Rod-cone dystrophy is a condition in which one’s eyesight slowly deteriorates over time.
More than 70 members of the Kirby family, some from as far as South Carolina, were present. Many wore bright orange shirts that read “Justice for Justin.”
Prosecuting attorney Robert Miller had five members of the family speak about the emotional damage their family had suffered.
Andrew Smith said he was one of Justin’s best friends and still checks his call logs every day for a message from him.
“The last six to eight months he was alive, I spoke to him every day,” Smith said.
Smith, unlike many of the family members, said he did not hate Taylor for killing his friend.
He said it may have been Justin’s time to die, but he could not forgive her.
Justin’s biological father, David Bruner, said he has struggled since the day he found out about the murder and he attends grief counseling because of nightmares and flashbacks.
“I am never going to get to tell him how much I love him,” Brenner said.
He also said to Taylor that the idea she was threatened by Justin, who was legally blind, was ridiculous and she had robbed his children of a father.
Brenner said he wished Taylor would suffer the maximum penalty possible under the plea deal and cited the pain caused to his family.
“We are forever broken,” Brenner said. “Justin’s death took everything from us.”
Sandy said this trial has been a process for every member of their family, and it has been a long 14 months since the murder of her son.
She said she did not like the plea deal for voluntary manslaughter and asked Kellams for justice.
“As a family, we do not agree with this plea deal,” Sandy said. “Give Justin justice.”
After five family members had spoken, attorneys made their final statements and Judge Kellams rendered his final judgement of 22 years in jail.
Miller, for the prosecution, said the only sentence that would be reasonable would be a fully executed one, meaning the full time recommended of 17 years for manslaughter and 5 for the use of a firearm.
“She killed someone,” Miller said. “That doesn’t just go away.”
Defense attorney Emily Salzmann said she hoped proper mental health counseling would be available while Taylor served her time in jail.
“This is a mental health case, not a murder case,” Salzmann said.
Before Kellams rendered his judgment, he said he too had lost an adult daughter and said while he understood the family’s desire for justice, he had to be impartial.
“What is justice for Justin Kirby?” Kellams said. “We all look at that differently.”
Taylor was allowed to make an unsworn statement before the sentence was pronounced.
She said she was sorry for all the harm she had caused to her family and her children.
She said she wished she could make it right somehow.
“If I could take back what I did that day, I would,” Taylor said.
