Man Sentenced For Teen's Shooting Death

Hogwood Learns Fate For 2002 Murder

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – John Hogwood entered a plea agreement in court Thursday for the shooting death of 19-year-old Ryan McCarthy. In exchange for pleading guilty to the second-degree murder charge, he will serve 25 years in state prison with no chance of an early release.

But McCarthy's family said that's not enough. They wanted a life sentence for Hogwood.

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"I was hoping the judge would reconsider, but he didn't," said Ryan McCarthy's father, John McCarthy. "I feel victimized by the system."

Hogwood was convicted of killing 19-year old Ryan McCarthy (pictured, below), whose body was found in Chriswell Park in October 2002. He had been shot several times while he was a passenger in a car with two friends.

It was an agonizing day in court for Ryan McCarthy's sister, Katie McCarthy, as she and her family told a judge how the murder of her brother has affected them.

"He was there for me every time I needed him," she said. "The one time he need me, I wasn't there."

"It devastated all of us," said Fiely McCarthy, Ryan McCarthy's mother.

The case went unsolved for weeks -- until police and the Justice Coalition offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of McCarthy's killer.

After his arrest, police said Hogwood named two of his accomplices.

Hogwood, 19, Michael Riedy, 21 and Joshua Woolard, 22, were all charged with the crime or with being accessories to the crime. A teenage girl was also charged in the crime.

Hogwood's family said they hope the 25-year sentence will put John Hogwood on the right path, away from the drugs and alcohol they said were at the heart of the dispute leading to the fatal shooting.

Deborah Hogwood said she spoke with her son about his remorse.

"[I asked,] 'Son, do you ever think about Ryan? Do you think about his momma? Do you sit here and see the tears I cry?' And he broke down and cried like a baby and said, 'Yes I do, mamma.'"

Hogwood listened as McCarthy's family members spoke to the judge. While some members of the McCarthy family said they doubt Hogwood can ever change for the better, Ian, Ryan McCarthy's younger brother, said he hopes prison serves its purpose.

"I hope he learns to look at life a different way," he said.

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