History of the Brooks Case
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del.icio.usJune 26, 2008: Burnett angry, Chelsea Brooks' parents upset during sentencing
BY RON SYLVESTER
The Wichita Eagle
Darren Brooks choked back tears when he talked about forgiving the man who killed his teenage daughter.
He managed to get the words out before a judge sentenced Ted Burnett to life in prison without the possibility of parole Wednesday for the murder of 14-year-old Chelsea Brooks.
"I forgive you for what you did to us," Darren Brooks said. "It's now between you and God."
Burnett, 51, insisted he was innocent, pounding on the lectern, his voice rising and agitated as he spoke to Sedgwick County District Judge Ben Burgess.
"I've been an addict the better part of my life," Burnett said. "I never, ever have done anything to harm anyone in any manner, but especially not in this manner."
Mark Manna, Burnett's public defender, said the defense would appeal.
A jury convicted Burnett last month, based largely on the testimony of Everett Gentry.
Gentry, 19, said he drove Burnett and Chelsea Brooks to a remote area of Butler County, where Burnett strangled her from the back seat.
Gentry said he had arranged with Elgin Ray Robinson, the father of Brooks' unborn child, to hire Burnett to do the killing. Gentry said Robinson, then 20, was afraid Brooks' parents would press rape charges because of her age.
"I may be a crack addict," Burnett said. "But you convicted me on the word of a crack dealer."
Burnett was referring to Gentry, who pleaded guilty to capital murder. Because Gentry was a juvenile at the time, he could not face the death penalty. Gentry agreed to testify against Burnett and Robinson. Robinson awaits trial in September.
The Brooks family was visibly upset by Burnett's tirade.
"He has just shown his arrogance," Andrea Brooks, 19, Chelsea's sister, told Burgess.
"I think you should use that in your decision today," she added.
Terri Brooks, Chelsea's mother, told the judge that the past two years have been consumed by Chelsea's death and Burnett's trial.
Now, she said, it was time to talk about her daughter's life.
"I think she knew she had a short time, so she packed a lot of living into those 14 years, eight months and one day," Terri Brooks said.
Chelsea was a competitive swimmer, basketball and volleyball player, her mom said. She had a beautiful singing voice and loved to dance.
Terri Brooks remembered how her daughter in second grade took time to play with autistic children at recess. And she stood up for friends being bullied at school.
Chelsea had a difficult year in eighth grade, when she got pregnant, her mother said.
"But she showed great courage," Terri Brooks said. "She often told her classmates not to do what she did."
Then Chelsea's mother mentioned Burnett.
"He can lie and say he didn't do it, but we all know the truth," she said.
Along with his words of forgiveness, Darren Brooks said he had a message for Burnett to pass along.
"If you see Ray Robinson in jail, tell him what you got for killing Chelsea and Alexa," Chelsea's father said, referring to the child she carried.
Kansas lawmakers passed "Alexa's law" last summer, allowing prosecutors to charge a defendant with the murder of an unborn child if it dies in the slaying of a pregnant woman.
Darren Brooks also suggested another message for Burnett to give Robinson:
"Tell him, two down, one to go."