Harold Artice Ivy
WHITE CO., Ill. - The teen who killed a Carmi man this past summer has entered a guilty plea in White County Circuit Court...and prosecutor Denton Aud is very unhappy about the way the whole thing has turned out.
Aud said today (October 24) that a week ago, Oct. 17, Harold Artice Ivy, 18, pled guilty to the offense of Involuntary Manslaughter, a Class 3 felony, in relation to the death of Toby Sanders, 56, of Carmi.
Aud advised that Ivy acknowledged that the evidence was sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed the offense of Involuntary Manslaughter. In exchange for the plea of guilty to Involuntary Manslaughter, Aggravated Battery, also Class 3 felony, was dismissed.
Class 3 felonies have a sentencing range of 2-5 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections or up to 30 months of probation or conditional discharge.
"As someone who regularly complains about the classification of various criminal laws in Illinois, I have never been more personally frustrated or disappointed with the law or ever felt more constrained by the law in seeking justice than I have been in this case," Aud said. "In my personal opinion, the fact that the Illinois General Assembly has decided that this offense is only a Class 3 felony with a standard sentencing range of only 2-5 years is absurd and an injustice. To say that I am dissatisfied or angry would be a massive understatement. Because of that, I have discussed with one of the candidates for the Illinois House and plan on discussing with our representative in the Illinois Senate what I perceive as a necessary change to the law, and I hope others in the community will do the same.
"There have been various rumors as to what the evidence was and was not in this case. A statement will be released after the sentencing hearing about the actual evidence in this case and the applicable statutory and case law when someone is struck by another, the victim falls and strikes his head on the pavement, and the victim subsequently dies from the injury resulting from his head striking the pavement. Hopefully any questions as to what has occurred and why will be answered then.
"My thoughts and prayers are and have been with Toby’s loved ones and those who knew him. I knew of Toby and had spoken to him outside my home one night not long before the tragic incident occurred. He was always friendly with me. He definitely did not deserve this sort of death and definitely does not deserve this sort of conclusion, but we cannot change the actual evidence or the applicable law. I appreciate Chief Carter and the rest of the Carmi Police Department for doing all that they could.”
Ivy has been set for a sentencing hearing on December 10, 2018 at 1:30 p.m. Carmi Police Department was the investigating agency. Ivy is represented by Public Defender Brian Shinkle. Honorable T. Scott Webb is the presiding judge.