SEARCY -- It wasn't until she heard her son tell a White County judge that his life wasn't worth living anymore that Brenda Wezowicz broke down.
Tears had cascaded quietly down her cheeks throughout Wednesday's sentencing hearing for Jeremiah Chad Owens, the man who accidentally killed her 7-year-old granddaughter.
But when Wezowicz heard her son, Matthew, talk about how the loss of his daughter, Karma, has affected him, she broke down in raspy sobs.
"I feel like I'm dead. Just dead," Matthew Wezowicz said during the victim impact portion of Owens' sentencing hearing.
Matthew Wezowicz told Judge Robert Edwards of the 17th Judicial Circuit that his belief in eternity was the only thing holding him to this world.
He said he hasn't been able to sleep or hold down a job. He tried to go in for a job interview recently but couldn't make it through the entire meeting.
Matthew Wezowicz, 27, stared directly at his questioner, prosecutor Rebecca McCoy of Searcy.
Brenda Wezowicz buried her face in a tissue and cried, leaning on a friend for support.
Edwards sentenced Owens to five years in prison on a felony manslaughter charge after nearly an hour and a half of testimony.
Owens was visiting the Wezowicz family Feb. 27 to check on them. He visited often after Karma's mother, Renata Wezowicz, died in December from sickle cell anemia.
Helping people who need it is a part of Owens' nature, witnesses testified at the hearing. His mother, Lucinda McColgan, recounted times when Owens took care of his autistic sister.
"He has a loving, caring heart, and he made a poor, unthoughtful decision," McColgan said.
His grandmother, Marilyn McColgan told the judge that she would not be able to live in her house if Owens didn't come by to do the yardwork and cleaning.
"There's a lot of good in Jeremiah, and I beg you to be merciful," Marilyn McColgan said.
Owens told police that he had gotten off work Feb. 27, drank two beers, took a couple of Valium pills, then started his walk home. On the way, he stopped at the Wezowicz house, according to court filings and witness testimony.
Matthew Wezowicz had bought a new revolver that day, a Taurus Ultralite .38, and Owens was holding the gun in his lap when it went off, putting a bullet hole in the couch and into Karma's head.
Matthew Wezowicz had scooped up his small daughter and ran outside to wait for an ambulance. Brenda Wezowicz was in the next room and saw Karma propped up on her father's chest.
Karma died after being taken off a ventilator March 4, just over three months after her mother died. When Karma died, the charge against Owens was upgraded from battery to felony manslaughter.
Owens said he doesn't remember pulling the trigger or Matthew Wezowicz telling him that the gun was loaded, which the judge blamed on the drugs and alcohol Owens had consumed.
"If it were an accident, we wouldn't be here," Edwards said. "Accidents are not illegal ... We are here because of a reckless act on your part."
Defense attorney Hubert Alexander argued for a sentencing of a maximum of two years, the presumptive sentencing for manslaughter.
Edwards sentenced Owens to five years because he said Owens endangered Matthew Wezowicz's life and handled a firearm when he had been drinking.
"I have great sympathy and empathy for this little girl's family," Edwards said.
Brenda and Matthew Wezowicz said in interviews Wednesday that five years was not enough to make up for the life of a girl who will never fall in love, never hold her first child, never attend the second grade.
"Even if he got 100 years, it wouldn't bring her back," Matthew Wezowicz said.
Owens said he does not go a day without thinking about Karma. He had 17 supporters at Wednesday's hearing, many of whom held hands or put their arms around one another when Owens walked up to take the witness stand.
"All I have to say is I'm sorry. I'm very, very sorry. I'd do anything to take it back," Owens said, his voice breaking over the words.
He turned in his chair to face Matthew Wezowicz: "I'm sorry, man."
To Brenda Wezowicz: "Ms. Brenda, I'm sorry, too."
As he walked out between two bailiffs after hearing his sentence, Owens half-raised his hand in a goodbye to his loved ones, then walked out a side door in the courtroom, without a backward glance.
Metro on 08/03/2017