#DomesticViolence #dv Grand Rapids, MI- The tragic drama surrounding the murder of Latrice Maze, a mother of five, only intensified Monday when the man convicted of killing her violently erupted in the courtroom upon learning his sentence. Jahleel Hoskins did offer a weeping apology to the family of the woman he killed last March. He talked of how the victims body was disposed of in a trash dumpster, yet told her family and the judge that he loved Maze and her murder was unintentional. But when Hoskins was handed a 50-to-100-year prison term, the handcuffed man threw the podium toward the bench of Kent County Circuit Court Judge James Robert Redford and lumbered forward until court deputies dragged him from the courtroom with his eyes bugging out in fury. Even as the 26-year-old was being muscled out of the courtroom, the family of Hoskins began screaming at the family of the victim, which included the victims mother and father, who made emotional statements to the court earlier. While one especially vocal woman who described herself as a cousin of Hoskins yelled at the victim’s family, Maze supporters began to react loudly as well, The two groups surged toward each other as additional court deputies began to enter the courtroom to separate the groups. Hoskins’ distraught mother yelled at the defendant’s cousin to shut up as Redford banged his gavel, demanding order. The events of the sentencing followed by a few weeks the equally dramatic, if less violent, actions of Hoskins who halted his trial on Dec. 11 by pleading to second-degree murder in the midst of testimony. But Assistant Kent County Prosecutor Kellee Koncki told the judge that his confession should not result in any benefit for Hoskins and called on the judge to craft a sentence that would guarantee a virtual lifetime behind bars. Hoskins killed Maze at her apartment at 47 Burton St. SW and then placed her body in a dumpster outside a Wyoming apartment complex. Koncki argued that Hoskins killed Maze because she was going to talk to police about an assault by Hoskins against the father of two of Maze’s children. Hoskins told the judge and the families that his slaying of Maze was unintentional and the result of an argument that got out of hand. Koncki argued that Hoskins act was a premeditated murder, a slow and violent strangulation. In his sentence, Redford said Hoskins’ crime was only made worse by his dumping the body in the garbage, which was then likely incinerated, robbing the victim’s family of having a funeral and final resting place for her. Maze’s mother, Wanda Rose, spoke before Hoskins was sentenced. She spoke of trying to explain to her grandchildren about the fate of their mother. Rose said shortly after her daughter went missing, Hoskins joined searches and vigils in honor of Maze. “After you killed her, you had a party in her house,” Rose said. “What kind of person are you?” Hoskins turned toward the victim’s family and apologized, then told the judge how much he loved the victim and how he worked hard to support her and her daughter, whom he also loved. “Before this happened, everybody looked at me as a good person,” Hoskins said. “In the blink of an eye, I’m a monster.” Koncki said Hoskins wrote a letter intended for the victim’s family in which the defendant minimized his actions and blamed Maze for her role in her own demise. “It’s been the same self-serving stuff since the beginning,” Koncki said. mlive/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2014/01/courtroom_erupts_as_murderer_o.html -J
Posted on: Thu, 09 Jan 2014 15:03:50 +0000
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