A Kentucky mother who drove her four children to a fatal shooting was sentenced Monday to more than a decade behind bars.
Amanda Turner, 40, will spend the next twelve and a half years in prison for her role in the August 2023 shooting of 23-year-old Seth Burns, a judge ruled: according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Prosecutors have said she drove her sons,
The message that started the discussion involved “insults about children and parenting skills, or lack thereof,” Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders said.
A criminal complaint obtained by Law and Crime claimed that Amanda knew her sons regularly carried firearms when she drove them to the house that evening.
Along the way, Xxavion allegedly sent his ex-girlfriend a photo of a Google map showing that they were on their way and ready to fight.
Prosecutors also alleged that Amanda was involved in text messages that incited the fight, and was caught on a neighbor’s Ring doorbell camera walking her children (and Xxavion’s current girlfriend) out of a car and into the house walked.
Burns’ family has said he had nothing to do with the confrontation, but was in the car with his girlfriend, Xxavion’s ex, when she heard the Turners were on their way to fight.
Amanda Turner, 40, was sentenced Monday to 12 and a half years behind bars for her role in the August 2023 shooting of 23-year-old Seth Burns.
She had pleaded guilty in September to charges of murder, riot, unlawful transaction with a minor and unlawfully providing a handgun to a minor
Seth Burns (center) was in the car when Turner’s son told his girlfriend they were on their way to fight
“My son was literally an innocent victim in this,” said Seth’s father Michael. previously told WCPO. “He didn’t know this man, he didn’t know anyone in that family.”
But when the family arrived at the Independence home just before 6 p.m. that evening, Jackie – who was a minor at the time – fired his gun once into the air and then again at Burns, fatally striking him in the torso.
Witnesses then took Burns to a nearby fire station, and he was flown to University Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he later succumbed to his injuries.
Meanwhile, the complaint says, Amanda chased her sons away from the scene to “avoid detection by police.”
Amanda and her children were all accused of misconduct in the aftermath.
In July, Jackie, now 18, pleaded guilty to the July murder, and in September, Amanda pleaded guilty to murder, riot, unlawful transactions with a minor and unlawfully providing a gun to a minor. according to WCPO.
She admitted at the time that she drove her sons to a “girl fight” and will be eligible for parole in four years.
With Monday’s sentencing, Amanda joins three of her four children in prison.
Prosecutors have said 18-year-old Jackie Turner fired the fatal shot and he has been sentenced to 30 years behind bars
Xxavion Turner, 21, was also sentenced Monday to three years in prison for tampering with evidence
Keavier Turner was sentenced to 18 months and Lakera Hughes was sentenced to five years probation for rioting
Jackie was sentenced this summer to 30 years behind bars for Seth’s murder, Keavier was sentenced to 18 months and Lakera Hughes was sentenced to five years of probation for rioting.
Xxavion was also sentenced Monday to three years in prison for tampering with evidence.
Prosecutors had said he lied to officers about taking his younger brother’s gun after the shooting and told his sister to delete her text message history.
They had also tried to portray him as the central figure in Burns’ death, but his lawyers successfully argued that he was not complicit in the murder because he did not communicate or spend time with his younger brother until they met for the fight.
But the Burns say the family should have received harsher sentences. They claimed that Jackie’s was the only just punishment, and that his mother and Xxavion should have received similar sentences.
“She’s the one who instigated all of this, and because she was the mother, she just acted with complete disregard for anyone,” Burns’ mother, Barbara, said of Amanda.
“I don’t know what kind of mother takes their children to shoot someone else’s child. It makes no sense to me.
“I think they all deserved at least 30 years for what they did.”