URBANA — UPDATE @12:59 p.m.
Donovan Nicholas, 16, who was found guilty of killing his father’s girlfriend, was sentented to 28 years in prison.
Nicholas was sentenced to three years in prison on a gun specification, plus 25 years to life. He is not eligible for parole until he serves 28 years in prison.
>>Trial set for Champaign Co. teen accused of stabbing stepmom 60 times
FIRST REPORT
A teen who was found guilty in the killing of his father's girlfriend, but has claimed a different personality inside of him committed the crime, is set to be sentenced today.
>> Jury convicts teen who said alternate personality killed dad's girlfriend
16-year-old Donovan Nicholas was found guilty of aggravated murder and murder in the death of 40-year-old Heidi Fay Taylor in April 2017.
Nicholas, who was tried as an adult, originally pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity back in December.
A forensic psychologist, Daniel Hrinko, testified a year ago in Champaign County Family Court that Nicholas suffers from a dissociative disorder.
In a 9-1-1 phone call obtained by this news organization, Nicholas can be heard telling dispatchers that another personality killed the woman, who was stabbed more than 60 times and then shot in their home.
"I just killed my mother," Nicholas can be heard saying on the recording. "It wasn't me who, who, it wasn't me who killed her. It was Jeff. Jeff. I'm sorry."
He said Jeff was another personality.
"This is going to be really hard to explain but I kind of have another person inside me," Nicholas says on the recording.
>>Prosecutor: Lots of evidence against Champaign Co. teen in murder case
Defense attorney Darrell Heckman said it’s believed Nicholas’ alleged split personality “Jeff” is a character from an internet horror series “Jeff the Killer,” who is known for fictitious brutal killings on the shows.
Nicholas, who was 14 at the time of his arrest, will be sentenced in Champaign County Common Pleas Court.
