IRONTON, Mo. — A Piedmont man was sentenced to nearly 25 years in prison last week for the 2013 shooting death of his stepson-in-law.
Samuel Jerry Whitaker appeared before Circuit Judge Kelly Parker on Thursday afternoon for sentencing after having been found guilty by an Iron County jury in November of the Class B felony of voluntary manslaughter and the unclassified felony of armed criminal action (ACA).
Parker, according to Casenet, sentenced Whitaker to 10 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections on the manslaughter charge and 13 years in prison on the ACA.
Those sentences, according to earlier reports, were the jury’s recommendation following the penalty phase of Whitaker’s trial.
The state, which was represented by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, reportedly had asked for the maximum of 15 years on the manslaughter charge and 30 years on the ACA.
Whitaker’s attorney, Wayne County Sheriff Dean Finch earlier said, “wanted to give him time served; they asked for three and five.”
In sentencing Whitaker, Parker ordered the 49-year-old’s sentences to be served consecutively.
During Whitaker’s trial, the jury deliberated about 3 1/2 hours in finding he recklessly caused the death of his 41-year-old stepson-in-law, Carl Lee Streeval, on Oct. 28, 2013. Streeval died of a shotgun blast to his head and neck.
Testimony, according to earlier reports, surrounded an incident that was investigated by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol and its Division of Drug and Crime Control.
Streeval reportedly called the sheriff’s department at about 6:20 p.m. Oct. 28, 2013, to report he had been shot at his home in the Lake Creek community, located southeast of Patterson, off of County Road 371.
Streeval reportedly told the dispatcher he had been shot in the head by Whitaker and was hiding in the bathroom of his residence.
While on the phone, Streeval reportedly further told the dispatcher that Whitaker was trying to break into the bathroom. Before the telephone went dead, Streeval reported he was losing lots of blood and thought he was going to pass out.
When officers arrived, Streeval’s body was found laying in a pool of blood in the bathroom floor. The bathroom door reportedly had been broken from its hinges and was laying partially on the body.
Whitaker had been found in the driveway upon the officers’ arrival.
There reportedly was an apparent dispute between the men over property that allegedly fueled the shooting.