Macomb County Prosecutor's Office to appeal sentence of man convicted in death of boy, 6
The Macomb County Prosecutor's Office said it will appeal the sentence issued Wednesday for a Fraser man convicted of drowning his girlfriend's 6-year-old special needs son in 2021.
Hunter Locke-Hughes, 22, was sentenced to 7 1/2 to 30 years in prison for first-degree child abuse, and 43 months to 15 years for involuntary manslaughter. Macomb County Circuit Judge Kathryn Viviano gave Locke-Hughes credit for 706 days, or nearly two years, in jail, according to online court records.
The Prosecutor's Office stated in a release that the sentencing on the child abuse conviction was 45 months below the sentencing guidelines and that Viviano sentenced Locke-Hughes to the low end of the sentencing guidelines on the involuntary manslaughter conviction.
"When a sentencing fails to reflect the gravity of the offense, we must appeal it on behalf of the victim, victim's family and the community," Prosecutor Peter Lucido said the release.
Dan Garon, the attorney representing Locke-Hughes, said: "Judge Viviano took an incredible amount of time and effort into analyzing all of the factors that needed to be addressed in tailoring a sentence that was appropriate given the facts and the circumstances of this particular case, and any comment to the contrary is uninformed."
Locke-Hughes was convicted by a jury Feb. 5.
He originally was charged with first-degree child abuse and felony murder, which carried the potential of a life sentence. Involuntary manslaughter is a 15-year felony.
Locke-Hughes was accused of holding the boy, Terrance 'Terry' Adams, under water while giving him a bath on Dec. 28, 2021, according to a prior release from the Prosecutor's Office and its communications director, Dawn Fraylick.
She said the incident occurred in a bathtub at a residence in Clinton Township. Locke-Hughes, who was 19 at the time, called 911; the boy's mother was at work, Fraylick said.
The boy was born with CHARGE syndrome, a rare genetic condition that affects several parts of a child's body, including the eyes, nerves, heart, nasal passages, genitals and ears, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Children diagnosed with this condition have unique facial features and a combination of symptoms, according to the clinic's website, and every person with the condition is affected in different ways.
Despite the condition, the boy overcame many obstacles, such as learning to walk and partially seeing, according to his obituary.
Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Macomb prosecutor's office to appeal sentence of man convicted in boy's death
