Opinion ID: 2157140
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: State v. Founcill Brockington

Text: At around 6:00 a.m. on May 11, 1991, a twelve-year-old boy was awakened by screams. The boy went to his mother's bedroom and from the doorway saw Brockington, nude from the waist down, kneeling on the floor next to the bed, moving in a manner consistent with sexual activity. The boy asked where his mother was, and Brockington said she was sleeping and that the boy should leave. Ten to fifteen minutes later, Brockington left and the boy returned to the bedroom to find his mother dead. He immediately called the police. The police found the thirty-four-year-old victim lying on the floor next to the bed. Her blue jeans and underwear had been pulled down around her lower left leg. Blood covered her face, the wall, carpet, and bed sheets. An autopsy revealed that she had been strangled to death. Brockington was arrested later that day. He confessed that he had a physical confrontation with the victim, struck her in the head with a pointed object, and had sexual contact with her. Brockington was charged with murder, felony murder, aggravated sexual assault, aggravated assault, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. He pled guilty to aggravated manslaughter and received a twenty-five-year sentence, with an eight-year term of parole ineligibility. The AOC coded as present the c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony) aggravating factor and the c(5)(f) (no significant criminal history) and the c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors. Brockington was thirty-three years old at the time of the offense. Although he fathered one child, he is single and lived with his parents at the time of the murder. A high school graduate, Brockington was employed before the arrest, and had no prior criminal record. He claimed to be a regular cocaine user for a year or two up to the time of his arrest.