Emotions run high in Midland County courtroom as judge sentences teen in brother's stabbing death
LaNia Coleman
Steven J. Pribbernow showed little emotion even as many in the crowded courtroom wept while watching a memorial video of Pribbernow’s older brother, whom he has confessed to killing.
Today, Midland County Circuit Judge Jonathan E. Lauderbach sentenced Pribbernow, 15, to life behind bars for one count of second-degree murder and three counts of assault with intent to murder.
Pribbernow will be eligible for parole in 15 years.
He pleaded guilty in February to the charges that stemmed from an Aug. 3 attack on four family members at the family’s Geneva Township home.
The assault left 17-year-old Justin S. Pribbernow dead and siblings Kevin D. Pribbernow, 15, and Kody C. Pribbernow, 13, plus their step-father, Joshua M. Saylor, 32, wounded.
During the video, which also was shown at Justin Pribbernow’s funeral, Steven Pribbernow hung his head a couple of times but wiped away no tears.
He cried twice during the hearing, both times while listening to a victim’s impact statement given by his mother, Jessica Saylor.
“I remember getting this little boy on my front porch,” she said. “I remember him being afraid of the dark. I remember, the night before (the attack), we were laughing and joking and talking about his future. I don’t know you. I know that little boy and I love him so much. And God, I miss him.”
Prior to sentencing the teen, Lauderbach touched on possible contributing circumstances.
“There have been suggestions and speculations about what this case was really about,” said Lauderbach. “Maybe some psychological or physical abuse triggered it. Maybe it was symptomatic of the flaws in foster care. I don’t know and it’s likely no one will ever know.
“But I know you chose to take a life and assault three other people with the intent to take their lives as well. You killed your brother. When you pleaded, you described it in chilling detail.”
Lauderbach said prosecutors likely had enough evidence to convince a jury that Pribbernow was guilty of first-degree murder, which would have put the teen behind bars for life without possibility of parole.
“There was significant premeditation and deliberation,” the judge said. “You hid the knife under your bed, you set your alarm clock, you made a list of what to do afterward.”
Midland attorney Scott A. Isles, who defended Pribbernow, painted a different picture of the teen, one off a tragic life of abuse and neglect.
“Nothing can justify what my client did,” Isles told the court. “He made up his mind to kill his family, he plotted it and he did it. But I sit in wonderment at how this young man can be standing in front of you with these convictions. And I believe I have some insight into how he came to the conclusion he needed to do this.”
Pribbernow was three months old when his birth mother abandoned him with his father, an alcoholic and drug abuser who beat him, Isles said.
“He was raised in bars and by his grandmother off and on until she became too ill to care for him,” he said. “He was placed in a foster home at age 8 or 9 and he ran away, back to his grandmother. Finally, he was placed with his current family.”
The marriage of his adoptive mother and an accompanying ramping up of punishment could have contributed to Pribbernow’s mental state, Isles said. A psychological evaluation, conducted last fall to determine whether the teen was competent to stand trial, provided further insight, his lawyer said.
The evaluation indicated Pribbernow has a narcissistic personality disorder and trouble controlling his anger and impulses, he said.
“I don’t know what triggered this,” Isles said. “I don’t know if Steven Pribbernow is a pathological killer or if this was a blip in a 15-year-old boy’s behavior driven by the circumstances of his life.”
The teen’s sentence in the adult criminal justice system will give the Department of Corrections “an appropriate length of time” to evaluate whether the teen is a risk to society, he said.
“At 15 years old, the brain waves aren’t all formed,” Isles said. “I don’t think Steven Pribbernow understands the ramifications of what has happened. If this is an immaturity situation, he will have time to outgrow it and, if not, that will be clear.”
Prosecutor Michael D. Carpenter addressed the issue of abuse that jammed the media blogs as the case progressed through the courts.
Carpenter called the accusations “venomous allegations made by anonymous, faceless cowards.” He said the comments sparked countless investigations by the Department of Human Services which found all of the accusations to be “unfounded.”
“He lacks remorse,” Carpenter said. “On the video of him, after he knew he killed Justin, he made statements about not being able to go into the Air Force now.”
Carpenter called Pribbernow “truly an enemy within.”
“It is clear he knew how to run away,” Carpenter said. “It is unfortunate he decided to stay and kill this time. This family opened their hearts to him, only to have their hearts torn in two.
“His sisters, two little girls, had to endure a nightmare in real life that others only feel, that someone is in the basement and they’re coming to harm them. His brothers have been scarred, physically and emotionally. Their bodies bear the marks that are a constant reminder of what this man did to them.”
Carpenter also played an audio recording of Joshua Saylor’s victim impact statement.
“Your mom knows what it’s like to be abused, neglected and homeless and to feel unloved and alone,” Saylor said. “And now she knows what it’s like to see her whole family on the ground, bleeding, not knowing whether they will live or die.”
Jessica Saylor also read a letter one of Pribbernow’s sisters, Maysen, wrote to him.
“I will miss you forever,” she wrote. “Come out of the darkness and go to God.”