LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Louisville man convicted of killing three people in 2016 will have to wait until next spring before learning how long his prison sentence will be.
Brice Rhodes was convicted of stabbing and then burning the bodies of teenage brothers, 14-year-old Larry Ordway and 16-year-old Maurice Gordon, after they allegedly witnessed him shoot and kill Christopher Jones, 40, in 2016.
In addition to the three guilty counts of murder, the jury also found Rhodes guilty of tampering with physical evidence and two counts of abuse of a corpse.
On Wednesday, a jury recommended Rhodes serve life in prison without the possibility of parole for his three counts of murder. They recommended he serve five years for tampering with evidence and one year for both counts of abuse of a corpse. He was not eligible for the death penalty.
Those sentences will run concurrently, which means Rhodes will spend his last days in prison, unless his defense wins their appeal.
Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Julie Kaelin was not able to decide a final sentence Wednesday, saying that will come on March 13, 2024.
Family members in the courtroom had mixed reaction to the verdict. The teens' mother, Elizabeth Wren, was pleased by the outcome, while Jones' child's mother was overwhelmed with rage.
"It was nothing wrong with him when he picked up that gun and killed my child's father," Jessica Martin said. "It was nothing wrong with him when he hurt them boys. It was nothing wrong with him! Nothing! It was nothing but a bunch of foolery. You can say whatever you want, you can talk about whatever you want, but the fact of the matter is he should have been put to death."
Jurors had the option to consider Rhodes' mental state when choosing his sentence. According to psychologists brought in by the defense, Rhodes is intellectually disabled.
Prior experts also diagnosed Rhodes with ADHD and bipolar disorder, but said he wasn't given the right tools or education to cope. They assured there was still hope for him, but the jurors ultimately sided with the prosecution and the victims.
"We're grateful for the jury, grateful for everybody at LMPD who put in work on this, for the prosecution team," Prosecutor Elizabeth Jones Brown said. "Just everybody who's worked on this case and of course and obviously the jury."
What happened during the trial?
Throughout the trial, multiple of Rhodes' co-defendants testified against him.
Anjuan Carter, who was just 15 years old at the time of the brutal murders, testified that Rhodes made the decision to kill the brothers after overhearing them tell their mother about Jones' murder.
Carter said Rhodes brought Ordway and Gordon to his home and Gordon got into an argument with another co-defendant, Jecorey Taylor. The argument was heated, and at one point, a knife was brought out and Rhodes stepped in, taking the knife.
He said Rhodes then made the group of young boys participate in a gruesome vote which would determine Gordon and Ordway's fate. Taylor said Rhodes tied up the teen brothers, stabbed them several times and made others do the same. Taylor said after Rhodes left with the bodies, he and Carter were left to clean up the bloody home.
“I couldn’t do nothing though. I mean I was scared. We were all scared," Taylor testified last Thursday. "I don’t know. I just know we really couldn’t save them.”
Prior to Rhodes' sentencing on Wednesday, the court heard two days of testimony from the victims' families who spoke about the heartache they've felt for over seven years.
"I can't begin to tell you how hard this has been," Ordway and Gordon's grandmother, Deborah Wren, said Tuesday. "Nothing is the same. Nothing."
Jones' brother, Shawn Jones, also spoke to the court prior to sentencing. He said his brother was "a good man."
"He didn't deserve for his life to be taken," Jones said. "For him to grow with his sons and his daughter, or get to know his granddaughter. He didn't get to have that."
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