Ellison sentenced to 22 years
At a Tuesday hearing in Nevada's circuit courtroom, Judge James Bickel sentenced 19-year-old Logan Ellison to 22 years in prison for the murder of his grandparents.
The victim-impact portion of the hearing included opposition to any form of leniency as well as expressions of dissatisfaction with the 22-year sentence. Judge Bickel was urged to sentence the defendant with 22 years on both counts of second-degree murder and the single count of first-degree robbery and have the sentences run consecutively.
However, prior to the victim-impact statements, Judge Bickel made it clear that he would not exceed the cap and did just that at the end of the hearing by sentencing Ellison with three concurrent terms of 22 years.
Under state law, Ellison, who was 17 at the time of the murders must serve 85 percent of the sentence, which is 18.7 years, prior to being eligible for parole. With credit for almost two years in jail, that would make him almost 36 years old by the time he is released, although he could be held until he is 39.
Ellison's grandparents, Herman, 76, and Rosie Ellison, 77, were discovered in their home in eastern Vernon County near the Cedar County line by their son, Rickey Ellison, Logan's father, on Friday, Oct. 10, 2014, when he failed to get in touch with them that day. They both died from gunshot wounds from the previous evening.
Deputies from the Vernon County Sheriff's Office responded to the call and Lt. John Randall, in a statement, said Herman's head wound appeared to have been caused by a weapon fired from about three feet or less.
Ellison, who lived with his grandparents and 15-year-old brother, initially told law enforcement that Friday morning he had obtained the weapons from the home in order to go hunting when he dropped it, causing it to discharge and wound his grandfather. He said his grandmother then took the weapon and it discharged again, striking her.
But then Ellison changed that account and said the event occurred Thursday evening, saying he dropped the weapon twice, inflicting the two gunshot wounds to his grandfather.
He revised that account a third time when he said he shot his grandfather and removed money from his wallet. The next morning he returned to that home for clothes and then went to school and to the high school football game that night.
Eventually Ellison admitted that he had deliberately shot his grandfather with .22-caliber and .30-30-caliber rifles in the head and chest. He claimed to have shot him the second time in the head in order to end his suffering because he was still making noises.
He told investigators he took money from his grandfather's wallet and threw a coat over his head because he could not stand to look at him after he had killed him.
Herman Ellison was found lying in a tilted-back recliner with gunshot wounds in his head and chest and a coat over his head.
Rosie Ellison had been shot once and was found lying facedown in a pool of blood in the doorway of a bedroom.
The grandfather's wallet and cellphone were found tossed down a flight of stairs leading to the basement.