KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Desmon Rhea already knew he faced certain death in prison with no chance at parole. So Thursday's sentencing hearing for other crimes related to his terrible spree was largely procedural.
Still, a judge decided to tack an additional 37 years onto his punishment after he shot and killed his girlfriend, his girlfriend's mother and his mother's friend in a drug-fueled craze in West Knoxville one night in March 2020.
"You are an offender who has no regard for human life," Knox County Criminal Court Judge Scott Green observed Thursday, contradicting an argument defense attorney Wade Davies had just made.
In April, a Knox County jury decided Rhea, 27, should serve life without parole for the killings of Millie Blackwell and Barbara Rogers at the Trousdale Road home they all shared. He shot and killed Blackwell in her sleep and then forced his way into the nearby bedroom of a terrified Rogers and shot and killed her.
On Thursday, it fell to Green to decide how much time he should serve for a third killing, that of girlfriend Juliana White on that same March 2020 night. He shot her in a rental car and tossed her out near Liberty Street before killing Blackwell and Rogers.
Jurors convicted him of second-degree murder in White's killing. They also convicted him of breaking into the rooms of Blackwell and Rogers before shooting them.
Knox County Deputy District Attorney General Leland Price urged the judge to impose consecutive terms of life without parole plus more time for White's murder.
Green instead decided Thursday that Rhea should serve the two life-without-parole terms concurrently -- at the same time. But he ruled Rhea should serve an additional 25 years in White's murder.
He also added 12 years for Rhea's convictions on breaking into the women's rooms and using a firearm.
Green noted Rhea killed Blackwell at a particularly vulnerable moment -- when she was asleep. He said there was no doubt Rogers endured terror in her final moments as she called 911 desperate for help and then watched Rhea force his way into her room with a gun.
Rhea declined to comment Thursday at the hearing. He's been held at the state's Bledsoe County Correctional Complex, records show.
Family of the victims had a chance to address Green.
Betsy Martin, White's aunt, said Rhea's careless cruelty cost the lives of three people. His family can still see Rhea, she said. The survivors of White, Blackwell and Rogers cannot.
Rogers' son, Tylor Trotter, has forgiven Rhea for what he did. He urged him Thursday to seek forgiveness from God.
Trotter said he himself has gotten a second chance through Christ.
"You have to own what you did," Trotter told Rhea.
