Family members of Alicia DeBolt did not get to address the man who killed the 14-year-old girl in 2010, but they did get to hear a life sentence pronounced Tuesday on Adam Joseph Longoria, now 38 years old.
In addition to a sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for capital murder, Longoria – who waived his right to attend his sentencing – must serve 17 months on a burglary charge and seven months for stealing a vehicle. Barton County District Judge Hannelore Kitts ordered those sentences to run consecutively.
Last April a jury found Longoria guilty on all counts. He murdered DeBolt, who disappeared the night of Aug. 21, 2010, after committing the crime of aggravated criminal sodomy. The teenage girl’s charred remains were found three days later at an asphalt plant near Dundee.
In seeking a capital murder conviction, prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty. The alternative sentence is life with no chance of probation or parole.
Longoria was represented in court Tuesday by Wichita Attorney John Val Wachtel, who presented a motion for judgment of acquittal, which was denied, and a motion for a new trial, also denied.
Assistant Attorney General Andrew Bauch presented the state’s response to those motions, noting there had been 49 witnesses and six days of evidence at the trial.
“I have obviously heard the evidence along with the jury,” Kitts said, finding the evidence was sufficient for the jury to reach the guilty verdict.
Special Assistant Attorney General Kevin O’Connor said the pre-sentence investigation contained an error in the scoring of Longoria’s criminal history, since capital murder is “off the grid.” That made the vehicular burglary crime the “base” crime for determining the extra sentence, making in slightly longer.
Wachtel objected to the consecutive sentences, noting Longoria cannot serve two more years in prison after he dies. “At some point in time (sentences) cease to make any sense,” he said. “The fact is he will be dead and cannot serve those sentences.”
“It make a difference to the family that this defendant should be sentenced to the maximum allowed,” O’Connor said. It also matters because Longoria plans to appeal his conviction.
Kitts ordered Longoria to pay over $7,000 to a victim restitution fund, $400 for a Kansas Bureau of Investigation lab fee, and a few lesser fees, but did not add larger fees realizing Longoria will never have the means to repay them.
Longoria is in custody at the Barton County Jail, where he will remain until the Kansas Department of Corrections takes custody.