Not once during his trial did Michael Sherman apologize for the bludgeoning death of Lelia Kim Scott, 44, so when he was sentenced in St. Paul on Tuesday, her family was waiting for an indication of remorse.
Sherman, 53, who is deaf, stood before Ramsey County District Judge Teresa Warner and signed: "I apologize deeply in my heart to the family."
But, with that, he returned to the story that he presented in August -- that he killed Scott in self-defense after a sex-for-money deal went bad.
Deborah Harris, one of Scott's sisters, said she was dissatisfied with the apology and with the 12 1/2-year prison sentence that followed: "I heard that he was sorry," she said. "But I didn't hear as much as I wanted to hear from him."
Defense attorney Murad Mohammad, arguing for a 10-year sentence, said Sherman had no violent criminal history. But prosecutor Rosita Severin, seeking 15 years, noted he had acted angrily in the past and often used his disability as an excuse.
Sherman killed Scott with multiple blows from a baseball bat. The two lived separately at the Redeemer Arms apartment complex in St. Paul on N. Dale Street. Surveillance video showed her entering his apartment at 5:14 a.m. on Jan. 21 and then him leaving at 6:13 a.m. He communicated with a neighbor by settling into a batter's stance and swinging his arms.
At trial, Mohammad said that Scott had performed oral sex on Sherman and that after he paid her $10, she saw $155 in his wallet and made a grab for the money.
Severin said Tuesday that Sherman "struck the victim even when she was down." Mohammad countered that Sherman, had he been able to hear, would have known "the threat had passed" and stopped swinging.
After the sentencing, Harris said her sister was missed by the Frogtown community. But while she believed Sherman had come up short in his apology, a second sister, Sophia Scott, took comfort in one other small exchange.
As she left the courtroom, Sherman's mother stopped Scott and told her: "I am so sorry this all happened."
Anthony Lonetree • 612-875-0041
