Anchorage Daily News

PALMER -- The last of four Anchorage people convicted for their roles in the killing of a man on an ATV trail in Houston three years ago was sentenced late Tuesday morning to serve 65 years in prison.

Palmer Superior Court Judge Eric Smith said sentencing Kira Gray, 19, "is one of the two most difficult sentences since my time here as a judge."

As he spoke before handing down the sentence, Smith looked at both sides of the young woman, who was 16 when she shot Terrell Houngues, 23, of Anchorage on May 8, 2005.

Smith said Gray probably thought the gangster lifestyle was romantic, but he called the crime heinous. He said Houngues must have been terrified when he was put in a car trunk, then later led down a trail knowing what was probably waiting for him in the end.

That's where Gray shot Houngues in the knees and then finished him off when she put five more rounds into his head.

But Smith also took into account Gray's age at the time and that she was likely scared for her own life when her drug-dealing boyfriend found out he was short nine ounces of cocaine that defense attorney Josh Fannon said was worth $20,000.

Assistant district attorney Rick Allen had asked for the maximum sentence of 99 years for the murder and 10 years for kidnapping.

Smith did sentence Gray to 99 years, but suspended 44. He also sentenced her to 10 years for kidnapping.

Two of the other three sentenced in the crime also got significant time behind bars. Tommie Patterson, now 28, denied any part in the Mother's Day murder, saying he wasn't even at the scene where Houngues was killed. Smith sentenced Patterson to 85 years for his part in the killing and 15 for kidnapping. Patterson was convicted of putting the final shot into Houngues. Mario Page, 23, was sentenced to 90 years with 25 suspended. The fourth in the plot, Fredrick "Sherm" Johnson, 25, testified against the other three. He pleaded no contest to evidence tampering for burning the car in which Houngues was driven to Houston. In exchange for his testimony he got no more than five years in prison. During the trials, prosecutors said Houngues was killed because he stole the cocaine from Page, an Anchorage dealer.

Before sentencing Tuesday, Houngues' mother spoke via telephone. Alternating between sobbing and anger, Pam Houngues said to Gray: "You'll never be a mother. You'll never know unconditional love."

Later she said, "How can you live in your skin? You're a cold piece of work. It didn't have to go down like that."

In some final comments during the lengthy, emotional address, Pam Houngues said, "I rejoice this day. I can lay my boy to rest today."

T.C. Mitchell can be reached at adn.com/contact/tcmitchell or 1-907-352-6716.

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