Shayna Hubers sentenced to life in prison: 'She has expressed no remorse'

Chris Mayhew | Cincinnati Enquirer

NEWPORT – Life in prison. That's the sentence Judge Daniel Zalla delivered to Shayna Hubers Thursday in the 2012 murder of her boyfriend Ryan Poston.

Poston’s mother Lisa Carter hugged people in the gallery and said, “It’s never over,” after the judge spoke. Jay Poston, Ryan Poston's father, asked the Campbell Circuit Court judge to do what he could to delay Hubers’ release in his testimony.

“Evil, for reasons only evil knows, took it upon herself to take from us that which she could never possess,” Jay Poston said.

Zalla said he saw no reason to alter the jury’s life sentence recommendation. He looked at Hubers and told her she picked up a gun off a table and shot her boyfriend six times.

“Your actions that evening were grossly violent and intentionally calculated to cause his death,” Zalla said.

Hubers showed no visible emotion during sentencing or when bailiffs escorted her away.

Hubers, 27, is eligible to see a parole board in 14 years since she has already served six years in jail.

The sentencing hearing was delayed several times so the defense could review victim statements and clarifications could be made about the presentencing investigation report.

Hubers has been found guilty twice of the murder of Poston, 29. The first trial was thrown out after it was found a juror had been previously convicted of a felony.

Hubers' defense team requested Zalla declare a mistrial, a move Zalla denied.

Hubers shot and killed Ryan Poston on Oct. 12, 2012, at his Highland Heights condominium. Her defense argued she shot in self-defense. The jury took five hours to convict Hubers on a murder charge after a two-week trial.

Prosecutors say Hubers killed Poston because he was leaving her. Hubers took the stand and claimed Poston pressured her to perform sex acts and was abusive. She said her inability to orgasm with Poston was a sticking point in the relationship. Prosecutors went through lengthy sets of text messages between Hubers and Poston and their friends to show he was not abusive.

Defense attorney David Eldridge asked Zalla to consider Hubers being a low risk to commit more crimes once paroled. Eldridge asked for a minimum sentence of 20 years. He did not mention abuse as a reason for a minimum sentence.

Hubers took responsibility by calling 911 and talking to police, Eldridge said. He described his client's police interrogation as the ramblings of a mentally ill young girl.

"She told them (police) what she did much to her detriment," Eldridge said.

The defense attorney said Hubers, who was 21 when she shot Poston, has changed. He said Hubers is a good candidate for successful treatment for her borderline personality disorder diagnosis.

Commonwealth's Attorney Michelle Snodgrass, the lead prosecutor, said Hubers said she was sorry for killing Poston in a typed letter to the judge before sentencing.

“She has never said that to Ryan’s family. She has expressed no remorse.”

Snodgrass said after the trial, Hubers has expressed anything but remorse. Hubers told friends and family that Poston’s sister faked tears on the witness stand, Snodgrass said.

Hubers had a name for Poston’s sister too she has told friends.

“Teddy bear girl doesn’t sound remorseful to me,” Snodgrass said.

Snodgrass asked the judge to consider Hubers’ jail decisions at sentencing even though her jail marriage to a transgender woman named Unique Taylor earlier this year was inadmissible in the trial.

Jailhouse marriage details: Accused killer Shayna Hubers marries Unique Taylor in jail

Related: Judge: Do not call accused killer Shayna Hubers Mrs. Unique Taylor

“She is married to an individual who spent 14 years in federal custody and who is now been picked up in Tennessee on another warrant about something else,” Snodgrass said.

Snodgrass, flanked by Poston’s family after the sentencing, said justice was overdue.

“It’s been six years and two trials they had to sit in the courtroom,” she said.

Snodgrass said the family had to listen to the defense disparage their son over and over. She said they had to listen to lies.

Hubers' defense has the option to request the Kentucky Court of Appeals to review the case. The appeals court has 14 judges. A rotating panel of three judges reviews the record of trials from a lower court.

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