Phillips sentenced in death of stepfather

No one knows whether Cullen Phillips meant to kill his stepfather in November 2012, when an old, rusty firearm went off at the family's Millsboro home.

The gun was pointed at Clifford Paynter, 46, who died on the spot, said Deputy Attorney General David Hume during sentencing for Phillips Jan. 9 in Sussex Superior Court.

Phillips, 26, who pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide in December, was sentenced to eight years on the charge, but Judge Richard Stokes suspended the sentence for time served – two years and 21 days to be precise.

Phillips was arrested in Harrington two months after the shooting and has been in prison for about two years since then. Stokes also gave Phillips two years of probation. If Phillips violates his probation, he will return to prison to finish the eight year sentence, Hume said.

In handing down the sentence, Stokes said he took into account Phillips' remorse and the absence of any prior criminal record.

“We will never know what transpired in the room between the victim and defendant,” Stokes said.

Forensic tests uncovered no DNA from Phillips on the trigger, said Robert Robinson, public defender for Phillips.

While examining the old, rusty gun, he said, investigators inadvertently fired the weapon.

“This was a very erratic firearm,” Robinson said.

Robinson read a statement from Phillips who remained silent with head bowed.

“I am deeply saddened by this tragic accident,” Phillips wrote in his statement among other expressions of remorse.

Shannon Cunningham, mother of three of Phillips children, broke down as she asked Judge Stokes for leniency and said, “It's hard to raise them on my own.”

Paynter's brother, Andrew Brown, however, asked Judge Stokes for justice.

“He's going to come home one day soon, but my brother is never going to come back,” he said.