Sandra Layne, 75, is sentenced to at least 20 years in prison for fatally shooting her 17-year-old grandson Jonathan Hoffman in West Bloomfield last May.
The life sentence, in effect, was imposed by Judge Denise Langford Morris in Oakland Circuit Court during a hearing that was video-livestreamed by the Detroit Free Press.
"Grandmothers are supposed to be protective," the judge told Layne. "Grandmothers are supposed to protect."
A mandatory two-year prison term for using a firearm during a felony will be served concurrently.
Layne addressed the judge tearfully before sentencing, saying: "I'm sorry for what I did. . . Sorry is too small a word. . . . I know what I've done and I feel the pain"
Defense attorney Jerome Sabbota asked for leniency because of her age.
Before sentencing, Layne's daughter Jennifer Hoffman told the judge: "Please do not shoe her mercy. She showed no mercy to my son."
A Free Press article says:
Sandra Layne trial photo is from WXYZ.It brings to a close a case that garnered national attention and tore apart a family already teetering on the edge.
Layne, who had no prior criminal record, was convicted March 19 of second-degree murder. . . . Layne shot Hoffman six times over the course of several minutes on the afternoon of May 18, tracking him upstairs and downstairs in her upscale condominium in Maple Place Villas.
