Prison for Homer man who shot ex-girlfriend in Marshall

Trace Christenson | Battle Creek Enquirer

A Homer man, Brett Baldridge, was sentenced to at least 32 years in prison after a jury convicted him of shooting his former girlfriend just before last Christmas.

Baldridge, 42, was sentenced Thursday to 20 to 40 years for his conviction of assault with intent to murder Angela Bass on Dec. 23, 2014. He also must serve 2 years for use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and 10 to 20 years for home invasion. Those three sentences will be served consecutively. He also was sentenced to 38 months to 5 years for aggravated stalking, which will be served concurrently with the others. He has been in jail 357 days.

Baldridge was charged with shooting Bass with a .12-gauge shotgun after entering her Marshall home while she was sleeping. Bass testified that she had ended their abusive relationship but that Baldridge had stalked her and threatened to kill her.

"He messaged me that he would rather kill me than let me go," she told Calhoun County Circuit Judge Allen Garbrecht. "On that Tuesday night it was my worst nightmare when he came to kill me."

Bass was shot in the leg and nearly died. She has permanent injuries.

She said her family spent last Christmas holding a vigil by her hospital bed, hoping she would live. She said she wore a party hat for New Years while still in the hospital but doesn't remember it and only knows because she had seen photographs of it.

She said her family spent the holidays eating hospital food and sleeping on couches.

Since the shooting, Bass told the judge, she has lost her job, her house, her income and her sense of security and independence.

She throws laundry down the stairs in a bag because she can't carry a laundry basket and must hold a handrail with both hands and take a step at a time. She has had multiple hospital stays to treat her injuries and suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and undergoes counseling.

"I don't know if I will ever be able to hold a full-time job or live alone," she said.

"My scars are a constant reminder of how quickly a person can pull the trigger and change a life forever."

Bass said it was "All because I chose to end a bad relationship. And I am one of the lucky ones who was a victim of domestic violence and lives to tell about it."

Baldridge told the judge "I am sure it haunts her and it haunts me too."

He blamed his actions on medication.

"I was not myself," he said. "I was awake for six days."

"I went there to shoot myself and not Angela," he said. "And when the gun went off I panicked and I don't remember a lot of it."

Defense attorney Ronald Pichlik said while his client was deemed mentally competent to stand trial, "there were some mental health issues that Mr. Baldridge was contending with. This is a situation that occurred and can't be undone, but it is never going to happen again and it would never happen again if Mr. Baldridge is afforded the opportunity to be presented with the choices."

Assistant Prosecutor Chris Baldwin told the judge that Bass' life is changed forever "and only by the grace of God is she here today."

He argued for the sentences to be consecutive, a decision that is an option for the judge.

"This is the type of case that the Legislature had in mind," Baldwin said.

Garbrecht said Baldridge terrorized Bass and injured her physically and mentally.

"I am convinced the jury got it right," Garbrecht said. "You had the clear intent to murder her on Christmas Eve. This was a Christmas miracle if there ever was one, that she is alive today. And you may have injured her permanently for life, but you did not destroy her spirit."

Contact Trace Christenson at 966-0685 or tchrist@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on Twitter: @TSChristenson.