CASPER — An anguished father stood in Natrona County District Court on Tuesday, asking for the maximum sentence possible for the 16-year-old boy who killed his daughter, shooting her at point-blank in a southside park last May.
Eavan Castaner pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of his former girlfriend, Lene’a Brown, in a deal with prosecutors.
At the end of Tuesday’s two-hour sentencing hearing that included emotional apologies from Castaner’s mother and one by the defendant himself, Judge Daniel Forgey sentenced him to 42 to 75 years in prison and gave him credit for 330 days served on a stalking charge.
The length of the prison sentence didn’t sit well with defense attorney Ryan Semerad, who said he is filing a “premature notice of appeal” because the sentence is “illegal” and separately “unconstitutional.”
Brown’s father David Henrickson told Forgey and a packed courtroom that the death of his daughter at age 17 at Castaner’s hands changed his family’s lives forever.
“I scream on the inside all day long,” Henrickson said of the loss. “She was my first love and first true heart break.
“I believe Eavan Castaner should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The hearing included testimony from a counselor of Castaner’s and a police detective who spoke about text messages that were sent prior to the events, and which led to a meeting after midnight in Buckboard Park in southwest Casper. Castaner admitted he shot Brown there.
Testimony by Detective John Schlager and statements by District Attorney Dan Itzen and Deputy District Attorney Blaine Nelson, as well as a 911 call, were used to highlight the events of May 13 and the early morning hours of May 14.
That’s when Castaner, who had previously been in a relationship with Brown, went to Buckboard Park with a handgun stolen from his mother’s house.
Mother’s Testimony
Mikala Castaner, who is divorced from her husband, testified as a witness for the defense that she was at a work conference May 13 in Montana and that she had left her handgun in a carry case in a concealed carry purse in her closet.
She said she did not know Eavan had the weapon.
Mikala Castaner said she had talked with Eavan that day and acknowledged receiving texts from Brown that night on May 13 about Eavan’s harassment, but did not see them until 2 a.m. because she had gone to bed early.
She said she planned to call her son later in the morning and that there was no planned supervision for her son while she was away.
Christopher Castaner testified that he had eaten with his son May 12, but on May 13 he was on a job three hours from Casper.
He also said there was no plan around where Eavan was staying and did not know he had been at his new girlfriend’s house.
During a statement to the court, Mikala Castaner tearfully apologized to Henrickson and the Brown family.
“I truly loved Lene’a and adored her. I pray every day that God will ease your pain,” she said. “I promise there is not a day that goes by that Lene’a and you are not on my mind.”
Eavan Castaner told the court that he’s sorry for his actions.
“I would give up my life for her to have her life back,” he said, adding his actions have “imprisoned me mentally for the rest of my life.”
In his sentencing request, Itzen took the court through the sequence of events that led to the shooting that included text messages between Eavan Castaner and Brown on May 13, where he among the things wrote, “Ur a bitch I hope u die slowly Im go an celebrate when you die.”
Itzen said the case was like a domestic battery that ends in a homicide and that Brown had made clear to Castaner that she did not want a relationship with him anymore.
‘I Just Want To Kill Someone’
Schlager testified that the couple’s relationship ended 25 days before the shooting and Castaner had texted his friend Riley Sears on May 13 that “I just want to kill someone, I have to release my anger.”
Castaner’s harassing texts on May 13 led to Brown’s cousin stepping in, then an agreement to meet with Castaner and settle the situation.
Castaner went to the park with his mother’s 9 mm pistol despite efforts by Sears, 17, and his new girlfriend to stop him.
A 911 call after the shooting had Brown’s cousin telling the dispatcher that she had she been shot and asking for police to come. Itzen also pointed out that Castaner after the shooting reached out again to Sears to come and pick him up at his new girlfriend’s house.
Itzen also brought out that Sears recently died in another juvenile shooting incident this year.
Castaner was proud of the gun and took selfies with it, Itzen said. The prosecution played a jail conversation of Eavan Castaner’s in which he told someone that he had been “set up” the night of the shooting.
Itzen asked the court to consider a sentence of 44 to 75 years.
“This is about punishment,” Itzen said. “This about deterrence.”
Semerad objected to the sentence recommendation and called it “unconstitutional”
During his sentencing request, Semerad pointed to a statement by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell that youth offenders should not be treated the same as adults.
Castaner’s history with “mental health issues,” his lack of home supervision, his abuse of cough syrup, smoking marjiuana and skipping school without consequences reflected how adults failed in his life, Semerad said.
Semerad noted that his client surrendered to police, told them where the weapon was and wrote an apology to Brown’s family the night he was arrested, as signs of his cooperation and sense of remorse.
During his incarceration, Semerad said, his client has completed his 10th grade courses and is working on 11th grade courses.
‘Horrendous And Senseless’
Semerad called what his client did “horrendous and senseless,” but said that he has “fundamentally course corrected.”
He cited cases of other juvenile murderers that involved multiple killings in one case and an execution in another and asked the judge to consider a sentence of 22 to 30 years.
Forgey said that he read the sentencing memorandums and believed the sentence he imposed fit with current Wyoming Supreme Court rulings regarding sentencing for juveniles and second-degree murder.
In addition to the sentence, Forgey ordered Castaner to pay court costs of $325 and restitution of $7,000.
Following the hearing, Semerad said the judge’s ruling was “illegal” because the maximum sentence for second-degree murder is life.
“And for a juvenile there is a statute that says life means eligible for parole after serving 25 years,” he said. “Here we are not eligible for parole until we serve 42 years.”
Semerad said the sentence was unconstitutional because for a “single count it is functionally life without parole.”
He said it was also “disproportionate” to other more serious cases he cited to the court during the sentencing hearing involving the juvenile quadruple homicide case and juvenile execution case.
As for Tuesday’s sentence, Semerad said his client understands what it is.
“He is going to do whatever the court orders and he is actually keeping a relatively good head about things,” he said. “But we’re ready to take the next step and fight this appeal.”
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
