Killer to serve 42 years to life
Victim’s family and loved ones speak out
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WARREN -- Nearly a year after the shooting death of Brice Hilton, family and loved ones wore pink shirts bearing the Pennsylvania man's smiling face to court Thursday to learn the fate of his murderer.
From the courtroom gallery, they watched as Gavin Roberts was sentenced to serve between 42 and 47 1/2 years to life in prison for Hilton's Nov. 19, 2022, murder.
On that day, Hilton, 37, and his then-pregnant fiancee, Blair Legg, had driven to Warren to purchase a cellphone from Roberts for Hilton's son's birthday.
Instead, Roberts, armed with a .38 Special revolver and a potato inside an iPhone box, shot Hilton multiple times before robbing his lifeless body of $220.
Before sentencing was handed down by Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Cynthia W. Rice, Legg and Hilton's mother, LaSonia Moorer-Henry gave victim impact statements.
Roberts looked at the floor throughout both speeches, standing just feet from them.
"I won 341 bittersweet days, a hopeless number that will only continue to grow," Legg said, referring to the number of days since Hilton's death. "I won a strength I never asked for, a journey I never wanted to travel. I won visits to Brice's grave, visits begging him to forgive me. Forgive me because I couldn't save him."
She continued, "I can speak in truth for justice so that (Brice's) family can have peace," Legg stated. The woman said she and her unborn son could "easily have been murdered that night, too ... without cause."
Moorer-Henry told the court, "There's not enough words in the dictionary to ever completely convey the trauma caused by this."
Roberts, 18, was convicted Oct. 4 of murder after a Trumbull County jury deliberated only two hours following a one-and-a-half-day trial, finding Roberts guilty of aggravated murder and aggravated robbery, both with firearms specifications.
He was found not guilty of an additional murder count that carried a precalculated and design factor, and not guilty of aggravated burglary.
Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Becker said because Roberts was only 17 at the time of his crime, he would be eligible for parole after serving 25 years because of Ohio legislation set in 2021 that restricts sentencing for teen offenders.
"I think it's very unfair. This is a classic type of case of why Senate Bill 256 should be reversed by the legislature, and they should take that off the books because it's the classic case of someone who deserves more than getting a parole hearing at 25 years," Becker said.
Legg was vocal during her statement that age should not factor into the punishment.
"Age doesn't dictate punishment, the severity of the crime does," she said.
Becker called Legg's speech, "One of the most heartfelt and best victim statements I've ever seen in 33 years."