Family of slain Washington woman upset with prosecutors over plea deal
Shooter sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison for third-degree murder
The family of the Washington woman shot and killed during a drive-by shooting more than three years ago took umbrage with the decision by prosecutors to offer the teenage killer a plea deal earlier this year rather than go to trial and attempt to secure a first-degree murder conviction.
During a nearly two-hour sentencing hearing Tuesday morning for Juan Worthey III, several family members of the slain 58-year-old woman, Kristin Barfield, railed against the third-degree murder plea deal while offering their victim impact statements.
Barfield’s son, Trey Willis, said during his victim impact statement that Deputy District Attorney John Friedmann has specifically promised them that Worthey would not be offered a plea deal. Willis surmised that the plea deal was retribution for his past activism and criticism of the district attorney’s office in its handling of other cases.
“We have been against this plea deal from the onset,” Willis said. “They have done this without our approval after promising us that they wouldn’t do it. … “How could he ‘scratch this off his bucket list’ (by killing Barfield) if it wasn’t premedicated? It was intentional.”
Worthey was 16 on May 11, 2022, when he fired several shots from the backseat of a moving car, striking Barfield as she sat on the front steps of her residence at 219 Ridge Ave. in the city. Willis was believed to be the intended target, but was uninjured. Worthey, 20, of Washington, entered an open guilty plea to third-degree murder May 12 hours before a jury was to be selected for his trial.
While Willis was apparently the intended target, witnesses who were with Worthey said he gloated about killing Barfield and later kissed the handgun used in the shooting before discarding it as he and a co-defendant ditched the vehicle near Hickory. Trail cameras placed in the woods also showed Worthey kissing the gun, which helped Washington police identify him as the shooter after he initially pinned the blame on another passenger in the backseat with him.
“Third-degree murder doesn’t make sense to me,” said Courtney Ellis, who is Barfield’s daughter. “The photos of him kissing the gun (after) killing a grandma in broad daylight. There’s no remorse, because the only thing I see is you kissing your gun before throwing it.”
Barfield’s other son, Michael Walls, said the family was asking President Judge Valarie Costanzo to do everything in her power to sentence Worthey to a just punishment.
“We don’t have any trust at that table,” Walls said while looking at the prosecution table where Friedmann was sitting before turning to Costanzo. “We’re putting all our trust in you. … This was first-degree murder. We told (the prosecution) we didn’t want a plea deal.”
After the proceeding, Friedmann said the prosecution never told the family that a third-degree homicide plea deal was off the table despite the victim impact statements to the contrary.
“That promise was never made,” Friedmann said after the hearing.” They were not in agreement and didn’t like the offer of the third-degree open plea, but we believe it was an appropriate resolution to the case considering the circumstances.”
Costanzo acknowledged that the family was upset with the prosecution’s decision to agree to the plea deal as she sentenced Worthey to the statutory maximum of 20 to 40 years in a state prison. She noted that Worthey is now an adult and will have to pay the consequences for what he did as a teenager that will have a “ripple effect for generations” with Barfield’s family.
“You had choices, and you made one that day that had irreversible consequences,” Costanzo said.
She said the statements from Barfield’s family were “moving and emotional” as they described their loved one as a mother, grandmother and sister, among many other things.
Sharon Willis, who is Barfield’s mother, recounted how she was speaking to her daughter on the phone at the moment she was shot. Earlier in the day, Barfield had been watching her granddaughter and it was “the happiest day of her life” before tragedy struck.
“I was on the telephone with her when I heard every shot,” Willis said. “That’s something that can’t be erased from your mind.”
She said Worthey tried to blame everyone else for the shooting and even offered condolences to her family, which was obviously a fake show of sympathy in hindsight.
“He doesn’t seem to care,” she said. “He doesn’t seem to have remorse. Nope.”
Mishelle Price, who was wearing a “Justice For My Sister” hooded sweatshirt in the courtroom, said “my life has crumbled” since Barfield’s murder.
“She was gunned down in broad daylight,” Price said. “He chose to shoot right at her and then he celebrated afterward.”
As Trey Willis gave the end of his victim impact statement, he stood in the witness box to directly address Worthey, prompting defense attorney Randall McKinney to ask Costanzo that he remain seated. Willis responded that a computer monitor was blocking his view of Worthey, and he wanted to see his face while he spoke to him, which Costanzo allowed.
“I don’t fall for the tough guy act,” Willis said. “He didn’t break me. He didn’t shatter me. He’s a coward. The streets know he’s a coward and the (prison) will know he’s a coward.”
Shackled and wearing an orange prison jump suit, Worthey mostly looked down at the table while Barfield’s family members spoke. He offered a tepid apology from the witness stand when given a chance to speak to the family.
“I’m sorry, and I know anything I can say won’t make it any better,” Worthey said.
Co-defendant Brandon Ronald Allen, 34, of Washington, who drove the vehicle used in the drive-by shooting and fired one shot that missed, was convicted of attempted homicide, aggravated assault, conspiracy and two counts of reckless endangerment during his trial in January. He was sentenced by Constanzo on June 13 to serve 17 to 34 years in prison for his role in the shooting. All charges were dropped against a third co-defendant, 18-year-old Tyriq Xavier Moss of Washington, after he cooperated with investigators and testified against Allen and was prepared to do the same against Worthey.
Following Tuesday’s sentencing, Worthey was escorted by sheriff’s deputies from the courtroom back to the Washington County jail, where he’s been held without bond since being charged in June 2022.
Afterward, family members left the courthouse and congregated nearby at the county’s garden for homicide victims to embrace each other and grieve while holding a memorial stone with Barfield’s name etched onto it.