Murder conviction, sentence upheld
Sheriff’s deputies lead Anthian Goehring, front, Richard White and Malik Thomas, rear, to Washington County Courthouse for a plea hearing in April 2015.
Cameron Reihner
Ta’Niyah Thomas
The state Superior Court affirmed convictions in two Washington County cases, including one against a man incarcerated in connection with the fatal shooting of 10-year-old Ta’Niyah Thomas in 2014.
A three-judge panel on Sept. 16 upheld the conviction and sentencing of Anthian Goehring, 30, who is serving 30 to 60 years in state prison on charges of third-degree murder, conspiracy and robbery. He was one of four men convicted on charges stemming from Thomas’ March 31, 2014, death at the West Chestnut Street apartment she shared with her mother and mother’s boyfriend.
Goehring asserted in his appeal the sentence he received from then-visiting Judge Edward J. Borkowski after pleading guilty was “unreasonable and unduly excessive,” didn’t take into account factors including Goehring’s cooperation with police, and instead “concentrates heavily on the nature and circumstances of the offense.”
The panel hearing Goehring’s appeal concluded that Borkowski didn’t abuse his discretion and “considered all relevant factors” in handing down Goehring’s sentence.
The same three-judge panel also affirmed 25-year-old Cameron P. Reihner’s conviction on charges of aggravated assault, simple assault and reckless endangerment.
A jury found Reihner guilty in January 2014. Judge John F. DiSalle sentenced him to 8 3/4 to 17 1/2 years in prison on charges stemming from a 2012 attack on brothers Jonathan and Stephen Irizarry in Houston.
Reihner said in his appeal that evidence presented at trial did not support the allegation that he acted as an accomplice in the attack on Stephen Irizarry.
The judges hearing the appeal deemed the evidence heard at trial sufficient to convict Reihner on simple assault and reckless endangerment charges for acting in collusion or concert with the person who beat Stephen Irizarry with a baseball bat.