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Man gets 25 years for cousin�s murder Mail Tribune / Drew Fleming Mark Fernandez listens to Judge Ray White hand down a 25-year prison sentence in court Friday morning for the murder of Jaime Fernandez, Mark�s cousin. �You took our miracle,� victim�s sister tells Mark Fernandez By Dani Dodge Mark Curtis Fernandez was sentenced to 25 years in prison Friday without ever having said a word in court. He declined to speak in own defense at his murder trial. He declined to make statement Friday as he was sentenced for killing his cousin, Jaime Fernandez. But Judge Ray White, Fernandez�s family and Jaime�s family had plenty to say. "I don�t know who are you," Candace Fernandez, Jaime�s sister, said at the sentencing. "You are no longer my cousin ... or a human being. You are a murderer. "You took our miracle." Fernandez, 28, of Prospect murdered his 20-year-old cousin on Oct. 15, 1999. At the time, Jaime was recovering from a near-fatal car accident. The two were standing outside of Jaime�s house, in the middle of the day, when Fernandez took a 25-pound decorative brick from a low garden border and slammed Jaime over the head with it. Then he hit him again. And again. Fernandez then put Jaime in the back of his pickup, drove to a remote area near Lost Creek Lake and buried the body. In the trial, Fernandez�s defense attorney Gary Berlant argued that Fernandez was insane at the time he killed his cousin. There had never been a clear motive for the murder despite a taped confession that was played at the trial. Had Fernandez been found insane by the jury, he would have been sentenced to a state mental hospital instead of prison. But on March 30, after a four-day trial, a Jackson County jury unanimously convicted Fernandez of murder, and first- and second-degree kidnapping. Judge White said he believes Fernandez would be less likely to repeat his crime than other defendants the judge sees in his courtroom every day. White noted that while the jury found that Fernandez�s "mental defect" wasn�t the cause of the crime, "you cannot help but feel that mental illness played some part in this." Three members of Fernandez�s family spoke on his behalf at the sentencing. They let Fernandez know they still love him. "I think I would like more people to be more aware of what mental illness can do," said Pamela Fernandez, Mark�s mother. "My son is not a criminal. He had no mean bone in his body from the time he was born." In addition to Candace Fernandez�s statement on behalf of the victim�s family, Prosecutor Judi Harper read a half-dozen letters from Jaime�s family and friends. "I cannot express how much grief you have caused us," read one letter from Jaime�s aunt, Cindy Scott. "Being judged in court will not be the last time you will be judged � the real judgment will come from God." Fernandez looked straight ahead at the empty jury chairs as the letters were read. He never looked at Jaime�s family. "I only hope one day you will suffer as much as Jaime did," read a letter from Jaime�s grandmother, Beverly Lamb. "... and the image of the crime will stay in your mind forever." The last letter was from Melony Scott, Jaime�s aunt. "It disgusts me to look in your face. How could you kill Jaime?" the letter read. "No matter how much time you serve in prison, it will never make up for the loss of Jaime�s life." Reach reporter Dani Dodge at 776-4471, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.