Brendan Rex Stansell hugs his mother, Heidi Schmidt, after his sentencing for criminally negligent homicide Friday in Jackson County Circuit Court. 

A 22-year-old Eagle Point man was sentenced in Jackson County Circuit Court Friday to five years in prison for killing another young man with a sword in the Elderberry Flats area near Wimer in 2020.

But for Shawn Stephens, the mother of the victim, 23-year-old Matthew James Joseph Stephens, no amount of time Brenden Rex Stansell will spend behind bars will be enough.

“No time served is ever going to fix this,” said Shawn Stephens, who spoke in the courtroom gallery. “You don’t know what you took from me. I will never forgive you.”

Stansell pleaded no contest March 30 to criminally negligent homicide in the killing. He had been scheduled for trial April 10.

Stansell was acquitted of murder in the case in December 2021, and the jury deadlocked on a manslaughter charge, but prosecutors pressed forward with the case, leading to this week’s sentence. 

The killing occurred Sept. 18, 2020, when Stansell was asked to drive Natasha Marie Carson and Matthew Stephens to an abandoned trailer in the Elderberry Flats area, according to Stansell’s testimony.

Stansell claimed that a struggle ensued when Stephens and Carson tried to steal his truck from him in the woods. Stansell reportedly killed Stephens with a 26-inch long Steampunk Gun Blade Sword.

Shawn Stephens called it “a stupid act of violence” and speculated Stansell did not care what happened to Stephens.

In the 2021 trial, Stansell’s defense lawyer, Peter Carini, argued that his client was justified because, “You have a right to fight off your attackers.”

Stansell — who was out on bond prior to Friday’s hearing and arrived to court late — did not say anything about the killing. After being sentenced, he asked Judge Paul Moser whether it would be possible to provide flexibility on when he would be taken into custody.

“No, sir. You are going to be remanded into custody right now,” Moser said.

After the hearing ended, Stansell walked away from the defense table and went to the gallery, where he hugged members of his family. He could be heard saying, “I love you” to a few of them.

After the hearing, Shawn Stephens appeared distraught, hunching over and burying her head in her hands. 

“He wasn’t perfect, but he was my boy,” Stephens said in an interview. 

She called Matthew Stephens a “good person” who was “like an angel” who looked out for others. Stephens said she is homeless, and said her son was homeless also. People who lived on the Bear Creek Greenway with him thought highly of him, she said.

“Grown men still look at his picture and cry,” Stephens said. 

In addition to the prison sentence, Stansell will be required to pay restitution in an amount “to be determined.”