Family and Sheriff's deputies escort Kim Armstrong from the Livingston Parish Courthouse after Michael Weary was sentenced to death by a unanimous jury vote Wednesday afternoon. Armstrong is the sister of Renarda Dominick, who is the mother of Weary's two children. (News photo by David Normand)
George Walber said that he and his wife have separated "because of the hatred we carry with us, because of the anger we carry with us over his death. There's no way to be a family with all that inside you."
George Walber also directly addressed Weary, saying, "It was a very selfish act that you did. My son suffered…," before breaking into tears.
Cherie Walber talked of trying to keep going despite four difficult years since her son's murder.
"There's no joy in my family," Walber said. "There's no happiness. I don't see my children smile like I used to. Our family is no longer whole."
Cherie Walber described Eric as the "caretaker" of his three younger brothers and sisters, making sure they had rides to school and even starting supper before she returned home from work.
Luke Walber, Eric Walber's younger brother by one year, spoke of losing his best friend.
"He was the perfect brother, the perfect friend," Walber said. "He never hurt anybody, and he didn't deserve what he got."
Assistant District Attorney Charlotte Herbert, the lead prosecutor in the case, outlined Weary's criminal history during the sentencing portion Wednesday, which was not admissible during the evidence phase of the trial. Weary had prior convictions for simple robbery and possession with intent to distribute schedule II CDS (cocaine).
Weary's father, George Brumfield of Oakland, Calif., testified on his son's behalf, pleading with the jury in his final statement, "You know right from wrong don't kill my son. It's not going to change a damn thing."
During closing arguments, Corbet Ourso, Weary's attorney, pleaded with the jury to consider the value of life.
"All life has value," Ourso said. "All life is precious. Search your souls. Please choose life. I beg you, choose life."
Perrilloux reminded the jury of the brutality of the crime against Walber and that Weary had made his own decisions.
"Some cases cry out for the death penalty," Perrilloux said. "This one screams for the death penalty. It hollers and yells."
The emotion of Wednesday came after four intense days of testimony beginning with opening statements on Saturday and at least one key witness each day Sunday through Tuesday, with all three saying they were either involved in the crime or they saw Weary the night of the crime.
Two other men Randy Hutchinson, 23, and James Skinner, 23, also face first degree murder trials in connection with Walber's death. Those trials are expected to happen this year, but a date has not been set for either one.
Eric Walber was making his last pizza delivery of the night on Apr. 4, 1998, before leaving for a ski trip the next day when he was flagged down and stopped by Weary and Hutchinson, then overtaken.
Testimony by Sam Scott on Monday described himself, Weary, Hutchinson, Darrell Hampton and Shadrick Reed, with Walber stuffed in the hatchback of his own car, driving Walber to several places around Springfield for Hutchinson to beat him before finally ending up on Crisp Road, where Weary and Hutchinson held Walber as Skinner ran over him with his car. Skinner ran over Walber again and backed over him a third time before leaving his body.
Scott, who said he has been offered a deal of 10 years for manslaughter in exchange for his testimony, named a number of items that came out of Walber's car that Cherie Walber testified she knew Eric had for his ski trip.
Other witnesses later testified to seeing Weary with some of those items, including Jeffrey Ashton, 14, who said he saw Weary throw "something shiny" into the ditch by Ashton's home on the night of the murder.
Ashton also testified to seeing Walber's red Ford Escort driving down the street. The youth, who was 10 at the time of the murder, went out the next morning to find whatever Weary had thrown, which turned out to be a Tommy Hilfiger cologne bottle that Cherie Walber said she had given him for Christmas.
Other witnesses placed Weary with a class ring and car speakers right after the murder, all of which Cherie Walber said she knew were in Eric's car. Witnesses, including Ashton, also testified to seeing a number of people, including Weary, driving Walber's car between the night of the murder and the day it was found.
Herbert could not fight back tears during her closing argument Tuesday when reminding the jury of how Walber had delivered a pizza to his own family the night he died, mere hours from when he would be killed.
"Imagine if they had only known what was going to happen when he walked out the door," Herbert said. "They would have grabbed him and held on to him and not let him leave."
Perrilloux said he believed the last death penalty sentence issued in Livingston Parish was in 1984 in the case of Thomas Sparks, though that trial was in Livingston due to a change of venue.
