Shooter and Only Other Witness to Severns’ Killing Testify at Hearing

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Shooter and Only Other Witness to Severns’ Killing Testify at Hearing

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By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Sep 12, 2007 at 11:38 AM EST

Story Updated: Sep 12, 2007 at 3:25 PM EST

(SBT24/7News) The first phase of the sentencing hearing of Jeffrey Finley concluded Wednesday afternoon after a judge heard testimony from four people, including Finley himself.

Finely, who is facing life in prison without parole for the 2006 murder of South Bend Cpl. Scott Severns, will be back in St. Joseph Superior Court on Sept. 26 to hear Judge Roland W. Chamblee Jr.’s sentencing.

Michelle Beelby, a friend of Severns’ who was with him when he was shot, gave her testimony of what she saw and heard that night.

Dr. Joseph Prahlow, a forensic pathologist, described the four gunshot wounds he examined on Severns’ body at autopsy. He said one of the wounds tore his carotid artery, eliminating the flow of blood to his brain, and would have likely proved deadly on its own.

Finley’s mother, Cassandra Finley, called Finley “my best child” and “a mamma’s boy,” presenting him to the judge as a teenager who mostly stayed home, played video games and was looking for a job after moving back to South Bend from Georgia.

Finley himself described his version of the shooting and expressed remorse at his actions.

Severns’ family members will have a chance to testify after Chamblee sentences Finley. The Indiana Supreme Court has ruled that emotional testimony may interfere with a judge’s sentencing decision in cases involving life without parole and so is not allowed until after sentencing is pronounced.

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