{"id":78476,"date":"2017-08-24T17:56:45","date_gmt":"2017-08-25T00:56:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theavtimes.com\/?p=78476"},"modified":"2017-08-29T15:15:54","modified_gmt":"2017-08-29T22:15:54","slug":"man-gets-26-to-life-for-lancaster-bow-and-arrow-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2017\/08\/24\/man-gets-26-to-life-for-lancaster-bow-and-arrow-murder\/","title":{"rendered":"Man gets 26 to life for Lancaster bow and arrow murder"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Garrett Taylor Adams, Charles Briggs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LANCASTER – A 26-year-old Lancaster man was sentenced Thursday to 26 years to life in state prison for using a hunting bow and arrow to kill a man in 2014.<\/span><\/p>\n

Garrett Taylor Adams<\/strong> was convicted in May 22 of first-degree murder for the Aug. 23, 2014, killing of 27-year-old Charles Briggs<\/strong> of Lancaster.<\/span><\/p>\n

Adams was arguing with his then-girlfriend at a home in the 43000 block of 27th Street West when his brother and Briggs arrived, and Briggs tried to intervene, authorities said shortly after the killing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Adams went back inside his house, retrieved a compound bow and razor-tipped broadhead hunting arrow and struck Briggs in the chest, according to the prosecution’s sentencing memorandum.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Briggs can be heard screaming on a recorded video of the incident that was captured by a party-goer at a neighbor’s house. Defendant is heard on the video to utter the words, `That’s what you get, homey’ and `I should shoot with you with my gun, homey,’ and can be seen moving in the opposite direction from the victim,” according to the sentencing memorandum.<\/span><\/p>\n

The unarmed victim [Briggs] walked southbound on 27th Street, collapsed some distance away and died at a hospital about six hours later, according to the prosecution.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Defendant was outside his own home, some distance away, staring down an unarmed man while armed with a deadly weapon and under no immediate threat from the victim,” according to the prosecution’s sentencing memorandum.<\/span><\/p>\n

Adams’ attorney, Steve Meister, countered, “It was an accident.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Meister contended that Adams armed himself in self-defense and “accidentally released the arrow.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Meister said he objected to the prosecution’s request to instruct jurors on the theory of felony murder under which his client was convicted, with jurors rejecting the prosecution’s other theory — premeditated murder.<\/span><\/p>\n

“He (the judge) should not have allowed the jury to consider the felony murder-mayhem theory. That’s going to be the basis for Mr. Adams’ appeal,” the defense attorney said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Adams — who surrendered to the first patrol car to arrive at the scene — was acquitted of charges stemming from the alleged early morning run-in with his then-girlfriend, Meister said.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an interview with The AV Times<\/em> in 2014<\/a>, grieving family members described Briggs as a loving son and brother who protected the women in his family.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI raised him to take care of his sisters, and any injustice that he saw, he would speak up\u2026\u201d said Briggs\u2019 father, Charlie.<\/span><\/p>\n

Editor’s note: Earlier story updated to include additional details from City News Service.<\/em><\/p>\n

Previous related stories:<\/span><\/p>\n

Man convicted of first-degree murder in bow-and-arrow killing<\/span><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Man ordered to trial in Lancaster bow and arrow killing<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Man pleads not guilty in Lancaster bow and arrow killing<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Loved ones remember man slain with bow and arrow<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Lancaster man charged with bow-and-arrow murder<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Man killed in bow and arrow attack ID\u2019d, suspect arrested<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LANCASTER – A 26-year-old Lancaster man was sentenced Thursday to 26 years to life in state prison for using a hunting bow and arrow to kill a man in 2014. Garrett Taylor Adams was convicted in May 22 of first-degree murder for the Aug. 23, 2014, killing of 27-year-old Charles Briggs of Lancaster. Adams was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":78477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[719,10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78476"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}