Billie Jean “BJ” Edison pleaded guilty Thursday to robbery resulting in a bodily injury in connection to the 2016 robbery and shooting death of Bloomington resident Brittany Sater. Edison was sentenced by Judge Teresa Harper to the maximum 16 years in prison.
Charges of murder and burglary against Edison were dropped in part because she cooperated with the investigation of two co-defendants — the one who organized the robbery and the one who pulled the trigger.
But to Sater’s mother, Deanna Hawkins, Edison is to blame for Sater’s death.
“If it weren’t for you knocking on the door to gain entry, Brittany would be alive,” Hawkins said. “You knocked on my daughter’s door, and she allowed you in.”
Of the three people serving prison time for Sater’s death, Edison was the only one who knew Sater before her death.
Sater was shot on Aug. 28, 2016, during an invasion of her home by two people, Edison and Dennis Webb, who were robbing her in relation to drug business. During the crime, Webb shot Sater, and he is currently serving 63 years.
The robbery was organized by Johnny T. Moore, according to court documents, and he was convicted of murder, burglary and robbery in April 2017. He was sentenced to 77 years but is trying to appeal.
Alhough Harper gave Edison the maximum 16 years, four years are suspended, meaning she is set to only stay in prison for 12 years. She also already has 535 days of credit toward her sentence.
Before her sentencing, Edison spoke through tears to the court, directing most of her statement to Sater’s family.
“I can’t even begin to tell you how sorry I am,” Edison said. “I mean that from the bottom of my heart.”
Hawkins said she didn’t agree with dropping two of the charges against Edison, which reduced the maximum amount of prison time for her from the rest of her life to only 16 years.
“What is your child’s life worth?” she said to Edison, a mother of seven. “Sixteen years? Five years? To hell with you and your family.”
Sater’s aunt, Laura Sater-Taylor, also made a statement before the court. She said people have credited Edison with cracking the case open, thanks to her help identifying Moore and Webb.
However, Sater-Taylor said, police only found Edison because Sater crawled to her neighbor’s home with a gunshot wound in her belly to ask them to call police. She stayed conscious and told law enforcement that “BJ” and a man she didn’t know were her attackers.
“Without Brittany having great will to live, none of you would be where you are,” Sater-Taylor said.
Sater arrived at the hospital still alive but soon died from blood loss.
In deciding Edison’s sentence, Harper said she had to weigh Edison’s lack of a serious criminal history against the facts of the case.
“I find one of the most heinous factors that she was shot and her phone taken,” Harper said. “She was left to die.”
Harper said it fell on her shoulders Thursday to make everyone unhappy.
“I hope you can find some peace,” Harper said as people moved to exit the courtroom. “I know it will be difficult.”
But Hawkins was already leaving.
