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Last updated on Saturday, December 15, 2012
(BROWNSTOWN) - A Jackson County man convicted in the death of his girlfriend and for then trying to cover up the crime received a 24-year prison term Thursday in Jackson Circuit Court.
Gerald Eugene Combs Jr., 29, of Freetown did not testify during the sentencing hearing conducted by Jackson Circuit Judge Bill Vance.
He sentenced Combs to 20 years for voluntary manslaughter and three years each for abuse of a corpse and neglect of a dependent. One year was suspended for each of the lesser charges.
Combs spoke just once, when Vance asked him if the information in the pre-sentencing investigation in the case involving the death of 23-year-old Tabitha Brock of Seymour was correct.
"Yes," said Combs, who pleaded guilty to all three charges Nov. 13.
Brock's mother, Cindy Reed, read a brief statement to the court about what Combs' actions have meant to her family.
"He made a decision on May 10 when he let my daughter lay there and die," Reed said. "He didn't call 911. There is a chance she could have lived. He chose not to do anything. Justice has to be served for that."
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