People reacted with shock and disbelief, some even gasping, at the sentencing of Elisa Baker after she pleaded guilty on Thursday to killing her stepdaughter Zahra Baker.
Baker pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a sentence of 14 years and 9 months to 18 years and 6 months in prison.
“Wow. That’s amazing. I’m in shock. It’s a shame,” said Emily Lentz. “That poor baby girl was defenseless with nobody to defend her. And our justice system failed her.”
Lentz added, “It makes me sick just to think about it.”
“Only? Good grief,” said Rebecca J. Link when she heard how long Baker will serve. “It’s sad. It’s sad because the woman don’t need to be out. She ought to get the maximum penalty of the law for murdering her stepchild.”
Link talked about everything Zahra went through, including fighting and surviving cancer. Link said she has two 11-year-olds — one a stepchild — and she can imagine Zahra was like any child that age: funny, silly and goofy.
“She had hopes and dreams, too,” Link said, “And for her life to be taken away so quickly. And she (Baker) will probably get out in less time than how old the girl was when she killed her.”
Steve Sigmon, who lives in Claremont, said the sentence was too easy and didn’t fit the crime.
“One thing about it, she’s the one that will have to live with that the rest of her life,” Sigmon said.
Susan Beard of Connelly Springs said the sentence wasn’t enough. But she added, “Hopefully, something good will come out of it. Maybe if anybody else thinks a child is being abused we can stop something like this from ever happening again.”
“I think she should have more. I think she should have life,” said Alfred McCorkle of Hickory. “Just was served to a certain extent but not to the full extent.”
Barret Giehl of Hickory said the punishment should have been more severe and prosecutors shouldn’t have struck a deal with Baker.
“However, they know how the system works better than I do,” Giehl said. He added, “If it was this or nothing, I’m glad they got this. I would have just been happier with a more severe punishment.”
Former Superior Court Judge Forrest Ferrell, who wasn’t involved with the case, said he understands people being outraged over the crime itself. But opinion differs from evidence.
Ferrell said, generally, Baker will likely have to serve at least 14 years of her sentence for the second-degree murder plea.
As for the plea, Ferrell said it’s his impression that early on that the DA’s office entered an agreement that they would not prosecute for more than second-degree murder if she would agree to tell them where Zahra’s remains were located.
“They would never have located the remains, in my opinion,” Ferrell said.
If Zahra’s remains could have been located beforehand, the Hickory Police would have done it because they were on top of the investigation from the beginning, he said.
And Ferrell said the trial judge, Timothy Kincaid, who took the plea bargain is one of the most experienced judges around and has handled other murder cases. Ferrell said Kincaid would not have allowed the plea bargain to happen had he not thought it was appropriate for the evidence in the case.
“It was an extremely difficult case of proof,” Ferrell said.
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