Daniel Sibley
The last of five teen suspects was sentenced this morning for a graffiti spree in June 2012 in Arlington that included anti-gay slurs spray-painted on a lesbian couple’s SUV.
Daniel Damian Sibley, 19, was sentenced to three years probation for the state jail felony charge causing $1,500 to $20,000 in damage. Sibley is the last of the five teens to be sentenced after he pleaded guilty in March instead of taking his case to trial.
Sibley, who has a prior record, received the harshest sentence of the four adults involved. His sentence is not deferred adjudication, so his arrest and sentencing will remain on his record.
He was ordered to complete 120 hours of community service at AIDS Outreach Center or a similar organization, as well as an intensive outpatient alcohol and drug rehabilitation program. Sibley has a case pending for possession of marijuana.
Sibley will also have a curfew based on work and school and is not allowed any contact with the other teens. The judge told him to write an apology letter to the victims in the case.
The first teen sentenced in November was a 16-year-old who was the first to turn herself in and cooperated with Arlington police. She was sentenced to a year of probation in juvenile court, along with 50 hours of community service that must be completed at either Samaritan House or AIDS Outreach Center in Fort Worth.
In January, Morgen Rae Aubuchon, 18, and Seth Stephen Hatcher, 19, pleaded guilty to the state jail felony charge causing $1,500 to $20,000 in damage and were sentenced to three years deferred adjudication with 120 hours of community service at Samaritan House, AIDS Outreach Center or another organization approved by the court. John Austin Cartwright, 18, pleaded guilty in February and received the same sentence.
They are also jointly responsible for $6,441 in restitution to the owners of the damaged property.
Kim Lovering, who owned the SUV spray-painted with the slurs, was not able to attend the sentencing Thursday, so Fairness Fort Worth’s David Mack Henderson read her victim impact statement to the court.
Henderson said he was pleased with how the Tarrant County District Attorney’s handled the case, which was combined with the other victims property to create a higher sentence and as a result didn’t include a hate crime enhancement.
“I’m personally very pleased with how the DA’s office communicated with both victims and community leadership,” he said. “They proved to be educable and it bodes well for a productive future relationship.”
Lovering said she was glad the process, which has taken almost a year after the June 9 2012, incident, was finally over. She added that she was pleased how everything turned out and hopes the teens walk away with a lesson from the process.
“I think the sentencing that each person got seemed to fit the situation,” she said. “I hope in the end they all got a lesson and unfortunately they all have to put in a little time to learn it but it was earned.”
Read the Loverings’ victim impact statement below.
Shame. Today we can only hope you feel the shame that you brought onto yourself.
One of the qualities that is supposed to be great about the State of Texas is our pride in being independent people that can live fulfilled lives without interference. We have pride in our property and our privacy. We pride ourselves on getting along even when we may disagree. You brought shame to our state.
We can only hope that this experience teaches you a few lessons. We don’t wish you ill, we wish you knowledge. We hope you are capable of seeing and accepting the grief, emotionally and monetarily, you caused so many families.
In the end, we only have hope for you. We hope you can take the position you put yourself in and improve. We hope that in the future you’ll be home with your family and suddenly be hit with a wave of guilt from your past. We don’t hope for this to make you feel little or inferior. In fact, we only hope it finds you a better man, that has been given the opportunity to see how he’s grown.
Improve. Grow. Prove us all wrong.
Kim & Amanda Lovering