Two grieving mothers pleaded with the court Monday to find favor on their respective sides during the sentencing of Shera Carter, who was of second-degree murder in the 2020 shooting death of Coty Bass.
District Court Judge Ramsey Lama sentenced Carter, 34, to 30 years in the Department of Corrections to be followed by five years of mandatory parole. He also sentenced her to three years in DOC for a felony menacing count, which is to run concurrently to the 30-year sentence.
The sentencing range for the offense was 16-48 years in DOC. He said the shooting was not justified and was unnecessary.
Bass’ mother, Denise Bass, asked Lama for the stiffest penalty, not to be followed by probation nor parole.
“I’m living a life sentence without my son,” she said. “She did take his life. Bottom line and she deserves a life sentence of her own.”
Bass’ fiancé, Natisha Gwardyak, who also asked for a stiff sentence, said she was with Bass for two years before he was killed at age 33.
“When my son got murdered, I was in a bad place,” she said. “I was homeless in a park and (Coty) picked me up and he made me breathe again. He was not coming at (Carter) like she says he was. He was literally jumping out of a dumpster so he could get his stuff so we could go camping and get away from all of this. We just wanted to get away from all of it.”
During the trial, witnesses testified that Carter was upset with Bass because he allegedly had left syringes in her car and also in the handlebars of his bicycle that was at her property.
He went to her trailer May 2, 2020, to retrieve his belongings. After a verbal altercation between the two, Carter pulled a gun from her waistband and shot Bass before fleeing the scene.
Carter’s mother, Barbara Lougnot, asked for leniency so that Carter could continue raising her two children. She said because of things she endured in her younger years, her daughter grew up “way too fast,” missed much of her childhood and experienced significant trauma.
“Shera is a strong-willed woman who grew up trying to protect those around her from harm,” she said. “She never wanted to see anyone get hurt, but if somebody did, they knew she would be there to take care of them.”
During the sentencing hearing, the defense brought Kaylee Barrantes, an investigator for the public defender’s office, to the stand. She testified that while interviewing people for the case, they told her that Carter’s initial reaction to Bass’ death was remorseful and that she was visibly shocked.
She also spoke to Howard Gandy, Carter’s father-in-law, before he died in April. He told her that a few nights prior to the shooting, Carter and her wife went to his house late at night, visibly shaken because of an encounter with Bass involving a car.
“They asked to spend the night at his house because they were scared,” Barrantes said.
He provided them with a 9mm gun in order to make them feel protected, which ultimately was used to shoot Bass.
After the verdict was announced in July, Barrantes said two jurors went to the attorney’s office to provide information about their decision.
“They said if Ms. Carter had pulled the trigger when Mr. Bass first approached, this would have been an open and shut case for the jurors,” she said. “(One of the jurors) said that because this was such a horrible and hard decision for the jury, he asked that the judge would consider the lowest range possible because it was such a hard decision for the jury,”
Deputy District Attorney Liz Drake said the jury is not to consider a sentencing range. Additionally, she said Carter shot an unarmed man while he was leaving.
“The victim certainly did not deserve to be shot, he was walking away, he was trying to leave that day,” she said. “He was trying to get his stuff after almost being hit by the vehicle the night before. Clearly, tensions were rising, but the defendant followed him, the defendant kept engaging him, and kept bringing him back into the conversation.”
After Bass was shot, Drake said Carter did not walk away in shock or horror, but rather in anger, without remorse.
“Thatap the first reaction she has, thatap the moment this victim was shot,” she said. “…The victim’s mother has to live the rest of her life without her son, a pain that is unimaginable to any parent.”
Carter was on probation for two other misdemeanor cases and on bond for a felony at the time of the shooting. Drake said she was not being successful with her recommended treatment and she likely was not sober while on bond.
Carter on Monday said that while in prison, she plans to pursue her education, get mental health treatment, be part of the dog training program and hopefully, help others who have sustained a traumatic brain injury.
While she said her actions were fueled by fear, she apologized to the Bass family, her family and anyone else harmed by her actions on May 2, 2020.
“I think everyone there was scared – I know I was – and ultimately, my fear cost a man his life,” she said. “Words can not depict how devastated I was to find out that Mr. Bass died that day. How devastating it is to have to live with this weight on my shoulders every day for the rest of my life knowing that he doesn’t get to live out his years.”
She expressed condolences to the Bass family and asked that one day they might be able to forgive her.
“Taking someone else’s life, whether justified or not, the repercussions within myself are beyond reproach,” she said. “I accept full responsibility for my actions that day and I know that the consequences are not to be taken lightly. … I can’t take back what happened, I wish I could; I wish he was still alive. All I can do is try to better myself and the world around me.”
Lama said he believes that Carter did not set out that morning with the intent to kill Bass, and neither did the jury since she wasn’t convicted of first-degree murder.
“At a certain point in watching the surveillance video, your actions would indicate at a certain point during the confrontation, you were certainly prepared to take his life, which you obviously ultimately did,” he said.
Leaving the porch and walking away from the home, under those circumstances, had the effect of ratcheting up the confrontation, Lama said, which was unnecessary. He said the gun would have been just as effective from the house as from two feet away.
“But you made the decision to march after a man who was seemingly leaving and you did so with him at gunpoint,” Lama said.
The video was consistent with neighbors’ testimonies that once the gun was drawn, Bass basically kept his distance.
“The court even observed him putting on his backpack, turning his back to leave to get his bikes, and then Ms. Carter marching after him with the gun drawn,” Lama said. “… You never should have been in possession of a gun in the first place, itap a condition of bond. You weren’t even supposed to have a gun. Had you been abiding by the conditions of bond, Mr. Bond would be here and you wouldn’t be sitting in that chair.”
