COVINGTON, La. - A 28-year-old man has been sentenced to 99
years in prison for his role in the killing of a Mandeville woman
during an aborted carjacking.
Jason Gainey pleaded guilty earlier to armed robbery.
Authorities allege that he and Dominic Robinson followed Samantha
Jaume and her four children home on July 4, 2001, with the intent
of stealing the family's new sport utility vehicle to sell for
heroin.
Investigators say the 25-year-old woman was shot in the head
after she couldn't find the keys to the vehicle.
Robinson has been convicted of first-degree murder and is
awaiting a sentencing hearing. He faces a possible death sentence.
"My son, he can never look at his mother again, he can never
smile to her," Jason Jaume, the victim's husband, testified while
crying during the sentencing hearing on Monday.
In exchange for prosecutors dropping a first-degree murder
charge, Gainey, of Waggaman, testified for the state against
Robinson - but denied knowing anything about the shooting. Earlier,
he told authorities that he waited in a car and drove off after
Robinson fired shots inside the home.
Assistant District Attorney Bruce Dearing called Gainey's
about-face on the stand a "decision to revictimize the Jaume
family."
The 99-year-sentence was the maximum for armed robbery.
The Times-Picayune that Gainey, in exchange for his testimony,
had wanted a carjacking conviction, which carries a maximum of 20
years in prison.
Another co-defendant in the case, Sarah Faison, is awaiting
trial.
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