LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — James Bradburn, the man who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection to the death of his stepfather, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The ruling occurred in Fayette County Circuit Court Thursday afternoon, and it comes with complicated emotions from the family of both victim and offender.
“You have a mom that basically, she's lost a husband, but she also lost contact with her son who she cares about,” Bradburn’s attorney told the judge.
In September 2023, then 59-year-old Bradburn shot and killed his stepdad, 80-year-old Arliss Stewart, according to police.
As the fury unfolded, police rushed to the scene near Marshal Lane in Lexington where Bradburn is said to have pulled a gun and shot into the floor before shooting his stepdad.
At the time, Gay Stewart, Bradburn's mom and Stewart's wife, was present and witnessed her son shooting her husband.
Bradburn was arrested and charged with murder, but in January, he pleaded guilty to an amended charge of second-degree manslaughter.
Court documents indicate that Bradburn went to Stewart's home that night "wanting answers."
According to an April court order, Bradburn said he was "confronting Mr. Stewart about past physical and sexual abuse."
The court found Bradburn credible, meaning, as a victim of domestic violence, he was eligible for probation despite pleading guilty to manslaughter.
In a letter to the judge, Bradburn's mother defended her son and pushed for probation over prison time, writing, "I am respectfully asking you to help my son be able to get help with his physical and mental health and be able to come home."
In response to the motion for probation, Judge Lucy VanMeter said, “His testimony is this was some sort of confrontation about that history, but the fact remains, he took a gun to that confrontation. When you do that, you're responsible for the consequences of that, and the consequence here was that the victim was shot in the head and killed.”
VanMeter denied the motion for probation and sentenced Bradburn to the Commonwealth’s recommendation of 10 years in prison.
