By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
Another of Berrien County’s “juvenile lifers” was sentenced last week in Berrien County Trial Court. Other sentencings last week included prison sentences for child molestation and theft.
David Lamar Clayton, now 41, was 17 when he shot Samuel Merriweather in
Benton Harbor on Aug. 31, 1994 in a gang-related shooting. Merriweather was just 16 years old and was an honor student at Benton Harbor High School. He died eight days later from injuries he sustained in the shooting.
Clayton was convicted of first degree murder, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and sentenced to life in prison without parole. His co-defendant, Andre Williams, was 18 at the time and also sentenced to life without parole.
As he was under 18 when he shot and killed Merriweather, Clayton was eligible for resentencing after 2012 and 2016 U.S. Supreme Court rulings that said it was unconstitutional to sentence juveniles to a mandatory life without parole in prison. Juveniles should be sentenced to life without parole in only rare circumstances, they said.
Last week, Berrien County Trial Judge Scott Schofield sentenced Clayton to 30 to 60 years in prison with credit for 20 and a half years already served. The Berrien County Prosecutor’s Office had asked for a sentence of 40 to 60 years in prison.
In another sentencing, a former Niles resident is going to prison after being convicted of sexually molesting a young girl between 2007 and 2012.
Matthew Steven Andrews, now of New Jersey, pleaded guilty to assault with intent to commit sexual penetration and was sentenced last week in Berrien County Trial Court to a term of 23 months to 10 years in prison. He must register as a sex offender and pay $1,311.90 in fines, costs and restitution for the cost of extraditing him.
The molestation began in 2007 when the young female victim was nine years old and continued until 2012 at a home in Niles.
Assistant Prosecutor Cortney O’Malley read the young victim’s statement in court after the girl was overcome and could not speak. The victim described Andrews as “selfish” and a sexual predator who abused both her and her sister. “He made me question my faith in God and who I am,” she said. “He targeted me as too little and innocent to fight back.”
“We can never get back our childhoods,” she added. “I go to therapy every week and I struggle every day. He only thinks about himself … please keep him off the streets. I ask for justice.” Andrews apologized “for everybody I hurt.”
While O’Malley recommended 18 months in prison, Berrien County Trial Judge Charles LaSata noted that it was a recommendation and not a plea agreement. “I’ve been a judge for 14 years and one of the things I don’t allow is sentencing agreements which are binding on me,” he said. “I do follow them 90 percent of the time but unfortunately for you, you fall in the 10 percent.”
In another sentencing, a Niles man who stole a trailer from a Niles Township storage business was sentenced to prison.
Chad Robert Manigold, 36, of Alice Court in Niles, pleaded guilty to
attempted receiving, concealing and possession of stolen property $20,000 or more and unlawful driving away of an automobile and was sentenced to 24 to 60 months in prison on the first and 23 to 60 months in prison on the second.
He has credit for 105 days already served and must pay $1,082 in fines, costs and restitution. He cannot serve the prison time in boot camp.
The stolen property incident occurred Sept. 17 at a location on South 13th Street in Niles Township, while the unlawful use of an automobile incident occurred Sept. 22 also in Niles Township.
LaSata said he was troubled by the fact that Manigold committed these two felonies when he was out on bond on a meth charge and called a Michigan Department of Corrections recommendation for probation “crazy.”
“I’m not going to put you on probation,” he said. “You belong in prison, you have just a terrible record. You’ve been given second, third and fourth chances.”
A Benton Harbor man will have to spend a little more time in the Berrien County jail before he goes to Indiana to face felony charges there for a stabbing incident.
Joshua Orlando Crew, 26, of Agard in Benton Harbor, pleaded guilty to attempted receiving, concealing or possession of a stolen vehicle and was sentenced to 90 days in jail with credit for 61 days served. He must pay $698 in fines, costs and restitution. He was given credit for time served, 61 days, for reckless driving.
The incident occurred April 5 when he was stopped driving a stolen vehicle in Berrien Springs. LaSata noted that Crew at age 26 already has 13 adult convictions.
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