LISBON — Terrance Haywood, the 28-year-old man convicted about 10 days ago for the fatal shooting of Destiny Moody in her Wellsville home on Oct. 22, 2019, was sentenced to spend 24 years to life in prison by Judge Scott Washam in Common Pleas Court on Wednesday afternoon.

“The murder of Destiny Moody was needless and senseless,” Washam said, as he went back over some of the evidence that he heard during the week-long jury trial, including some of the domestic violence and threats made in the days leading up to the murder.

Washam sentenced Haywood to serve 15 years to life for the murder of Moody, along with a mandatory-three year prison term to be served prior to the 15 years for the firearms specification. In addition he sentenced Haywood to three years for the tampering with evidence conviction with another three years for the having weapons under disability conviction, those six years will run consecutive to the other 18 years.

Micah Ault, a special prosecutor with the Ohio Attorney General’s office, had spoke of Haywood’s extensive criminal record in both New Jersey and Ohio and requested 21 years to life, while Haywood’s defense attorney Dennis McNamara had suggested 18 years to life was sufficient.

Haywood chose not make a statement prior to sentencing. McNamara indicated an intention to file an appeal in the case.

“It’s really bittersweet,” said Lt. Marsha Eisenhart of the Wellsville Police Department, one of the investigators in the case. “We got a conviction, but we still have four kids without their mother and a mother without her daughter.”

Maria Canon, the stepsister of Moody made a statement prior to the sentence being issued, talking about how the loss of Moody on that day forever changed the lives of her entire family.

“You stole the joy of pride a mother has in watching her children grow up and who they will become as an adult,” Canon said, listing many of the things Moody will not be there to teach her children or provide them with advice about.

Instead of getting to be grandparents, Canon said her parents, Debbie Plum and Leo will now have to raise Moody’s four children, “grieving and confused children, who still want to know when they are going to get to see their mother again.”

“Destiny’s family can only hope and pray that this defendant receives the maximum sentence for this senseless, senseless act,” Canon said, adding the family deserves the peace of mind knowing this man will never harm another family like he did theirs.

Ault also read a letter from Debbie Plum, who said she will forever miss her daughter’s smile and is “forever numb” and afraid to let the children out of her sight.

“There was no need for any of this,” Plum wrote. “You were already with someone else, so why couldn’t you leave her alone. I will never understand why you decided to play God and take the mother from four beautiful children who needed her and still do. Their little hearts are broken and there is nothing I can ever do to change that.”

Plum said for as long as she lives she will fight to keep Haywood behind bars where he deserves to remain for the rest of his life.

“I know the jury found you guilty, but to me that is not justice, that is just a verdict” Plum wrote, “because if there was any justice in this world my little girl would be home.”

“I just want to thank everyone with the police department and the prosecutor’s office on a job well done” said Wellsville Police Chief Ed Wilson.