CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Kanawha County Judge sentenced a 20-year-old man to the maximum sentence of 40 years in prison for the murder of Martin Snodgrass last summer.
Anthony Harriman previously pled guilty to second-degree murder, admitting he beat the man to death near Magic Island. Prosecutors dropped a first-degree murder charge when he pleaded guilty to the lesser offense and agreed to comply in the cases against John Michael Thurmond and Erica Lynn Cogar.
Harriman’s attorney had hoped to get him 20 years in prison along with treatment, but Kanawha County Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey gave him the maximum sentence, saying she had an obligation to protect the public. The defense had hoped to show that Harriman had lead a troubled life, living in state custody between ages 3 and 18.
At the time of the attack, Harriman was homeless. Judge Bailey felt that the state DHHR had attempted many times to help Harriman.
Thurmond is charged with first-degree murder and Cogar with accessory after the fact to murder. Snodgrass was killed walking along Magic Island. He had worked at the city’s Bob Evans for almost 30 years.