Victim's kin seek maximum sentence

The parents of a victim in the Trolley Square massacre is pushing for the maximum sentence for the man who sold Sulejman Talovic a gun used in the shooting rampage.

In court papers filed late last week, Ken and Sue Antrobus ask the judge to impose a 99-month prison sentence for Mackenzie Hunter. They also ask to see a court-ordered pre-sentence report so they can request $107,000 in restitution to go toward a scholarship fund in their daughter Vanessa Quinn's name.

But first, the Antrobuses need to be recognized by the court as "victims."

Hunter, 20, pleaded guilty in November to federal charges of possessing a firearm by a drug user and selling a firearm to a juvenile. Hunter admitted that he and Brenden Taylor Brown, 22, sold then 17-year-old Sulejman Talovic a .38 Special for $800 during a deal in the parking lot of a McDonald's restaurant.

Hunter has said he thought Talovic would use the gun in a bank robbery, not the killing spree at Trolley Square that ended with five dead, four wounded and Talovic dying in a shootout with police. Because the government could not prove that Hunter knew what Talovic would use the .38 Special for, no one is legally considered a victim in court.

"The defendant's crime lead (sic) directly and proximately to the death of Vanessa Quinn — by helping embolden Sulejman Talovic commit the largest mass murder in modern Utah history and giving him the handgun he used to murder Vanessa," the Antrobuses' attorney, Greg Skordas, wrote in court papers.

The Antrobuses are asking for the right to speak at Hunter's Jan. 14 sentencing, as well as have input on restitution.

By all appearances, their pleas are falling on deaf ears.

In a letter to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Utah, Skordas said he has so far received no response to requests for police reports, autopsy reports that prove Vanessa Quinn was killed by the handgun or portions of the pre-sentence report. He also requests a pair of plane tickets and a hotel room to bring the Antrobuses to Utah for Hunter's sentencing.

Federal prosecutors have filed court papers indicating they do not object to any recommendations in the pre-sentence report, but the papers do not detail what those recommendations are.

"I hope that our detailed memorandum convinced you that Vanessa Quinn was a 'victim' in this matter and that you will be able to file a memorandum fully supporting the Antrobus' position with Judge Kimball," Skordas wrote in his letter to assistant U.S. Attorney John Huber.

If the judge denies the Antrobuses' request to be considered victims, Skordas said they would likely appeal his decision to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com