Monday, Oct. 27, a Jenison man was sentenced to a minimum of five years, 10 months and maximum of 25 years in prison.

Westen Meulenberg, 20, was sentenced for the accidental killing of 19-year-old Grand Valley State University student Connor Lotterman at a Tallmadge Township party in May.

Meulenberg pled guilty in September to the charge of causing death by discharging a firearm in a building. Meulenberg was sentenced according to Michigan Sentencing Guidelines, a point-based system used as a guide to determine minimum sentencing based on prior record and current offenses. Meulenberg was also ordered to pay a restitution of $8,000.

Meulenberg’s attorney, Michael Bartish, requested that Offense Variable 9 (OV 9) for Number of Victims be scored at zero points, which would indicate that “fewer than 2 victims were placed in danger of physical injury or death” rather than 10 points, meaning “2 to 9 victims were placed in danger of physical injury or death.”

Bartish argued there was no danger to the two other individuals in the room with Meulenberg at the time of the weapon’s discharge. Ultimately, the court ruled to give Meulenberg 10 points in the category since there were multiple rounds discharged in a dwelling with two to nine individuals who were deemed to be placed at risk of harm.

Bartish also requested OV 12 for Contemporaneous Felonious Criminal Acts be scored at less than 10 points meaning less than two felonies against a person occurred concurrently, despite there being seven shots fired.

“We’re not disputing there was multiple shots,” Bartish said. “Based on the nature of the weapon (a semi-automatic) and how quickly they were fired in sequence, the entire sequence would be considered one sequence, not a separate sequence.”

This request was denied. Judge Jon Hulsing explained that if three different people were hit by three separate rounds, then there would be three separate charges. Therefore, in this case, since each trigger pull was separate, they were separate acts and constitute separate felonies.

According to Michigan Sentencing Guidelines, Meulenberg’s minimum sentence range would have been 108 to 180 months. However, based on prior conversations in the Prosecutor’s Office, the defense was under the impression that guidelines would be scored at 42 to 70 months.

Meulenberg was given the opportunity to withdraw his guilty plea or adjourn the sentencing hearing in order to process the change in guidelines, but chose not to. Meulenberg did not want to prolong the case, and continued to express guilt for the offenses.

Hulsing explained the guidelines were accurately scored, but when a weapon is discharged in a home, it is often related to gang activities with intent to inflict harm, which was not the case for Muelenberg. He ruled to sentence Muelenberg outside of the guidelines since he did not have nefarious intentions, no criminal history and is not a danger to the public.

“I don’t think we need to sentence you in the guidelines,” Hulsing said. “That’s simply too much time. It’s not going to fix this situation because it’s not fixable. It’s not giving value to Connor because he was invaluable.”

The victim’s father, Steve Lotterman, made a public statement to the court on behalf of the Lotterman family.

“The news we received that night has forever changed our lives, and changed who we are,” Lotterman said. “Our family is shattered. There will always be a missing piece. The pain, trauma and stress we are enduring since that night are the worst we have ever known and beyond anything we could have imagined.”

Lotterman expressed ongoing trauma and questions that persist from the shooting.

“My wife lays awake many nights traumatized by thoughts of Conner’s final moments,” Lotterman said. “Did he know what happened or what hit him when he walked in the door? How long was he lying there alone before anyone found him? How severe was his pain? Did he know he was dying?”

Lotterman shared that through the tragedy, the family has been left emotionally unavailable to contribute their thoughts on what a fair sentence would be, but entrusted the judge to produce a fair and just ruling.

“Connor’s death was not in our hands, neither is the outcome of the justice system,” Lotterman said.