Devin Rayshawn Murray, 19, was sentenced in Pahrump District Court Friday, Nov. 17 to one year in the county lockup and from 10 years to life imprisonment for child endangerment and second-degree murder.

Murray had pleaded guilty to felony charges of second-degree murder and gross misdemeanor charges of child endangerment.

But he asked the court for the third time if he could change his plea to not guilty, insisting that he had not understood the proceeding during which he had entered a guilty plea, but Judge Robert Lane said the transcript indicated Murray was perfectly aware of what was going on and clearly volunteered the plea.

Lane rejected any reconsideration and sent Murray to prison.

Murray was charged with the murder of Elizabeth Salinas, who was found beaten to death at her residence at 910 East Wilson Road on or shortly after May 11, 2005. Murray apparently stomped her to death with his boots.

Murray killed Salinas in the presence of her two-year old daughter, covered the victim with a blanket, and then left the residence, abandoning the child.

According to the district attorney's office, Murray and Salinas had been dating when Murray went to Salinas' residence to discuss the relationship. This escalated into the beating and subsequent blunt force trauma from which Salinas died.

Salinas' mother took the stand and addressed Murray and the court, reading a letter she had written because she did not trust herself to contain her emotions enough to be coherent.

Crying, the mother told Murray that he had inflicted upon her family a life sentence the day he killed her daughter, because they would never see her again, and now her granddaughter was left to grow up without her mother.

Salinas' mother testimony affected many members in the courtroom gallery, with the courtroom bailiff handing out tissues to many of those present.

When Murray's sentence was pronounced, his mother, Sheila, collapsed from her seat and began to hyperventilate, shortly experiencing an apparent asthma attack. Other members of Murray's family left the room crying or stayed to assist Sheila.

Court officials were told that Sheila had existing lung problems. She continued to lie on the floor, wheezing loudly, until Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue came into the courtroom with a gurney to transport her to the hospital.

Murray watched his mother on the floor but at times merely stared ahead as she labored. When he was led away to begin serving his sentence, he seemed impassive.