COLUMBIA COUNTY, Fla. – The parents of a 15-year-old girl who police say shot and killed her older brother near White Springs in January have been sentenced on child abuse charges.
Misty and Keith Kornegay pleaded guilty to intentional act of child abuse and child neglect charges. They were sentenced to 10 years' probation, two years' house arrest and were ordered to pay fines and court costs.
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The couple's daughter, Ariel Kornegay, accepted a plea deal and was convicted of burglary, a second-degree felony, in Columbia County court. The prosecutor said criminal charges would not be filed for the killing of her 16-year-old brother.
Prosecutors reviewed years of alleged sexual and physical abuse against Ariel before offering the deal, which includes counseling and attending school with good behavior and did not include any more jail time. She was placed on probation for an unspecified time that could last up to her 19th birthday.
Ariel Kornegay had admitted to the Sheriff's Office that she shot and killed her 16-year-old brother, Damien (pictured), after he refused to release her from a locked room that only contained a blanket and a waste bucket.
Their parents were out of town and had ordered Ariel to stay in that room while they were gone.
Investigators said Ariel's 11-year-old sister let her out of the room and together they broke into their parents' room from the outside. Ariel found her parents' handgun, loaded it and then shot her brother, police said.
Ariel and her sister were initially arrested on probable cause of first-degree murder, but after reviewing the case he decided to file charges of burglary instead. Ariel pleaded no contest.
Another condition of Ariel's plea deal is that she "testify truthfully in the case of her parents."
Court records show the Kornegays locked their 15-year-old in a room for extended periods of time between October 2014 and January 2015. The Kornegays were also charged with failing to provide their children with necessary medical and psychiatric care between December of 2010 and January 2015.
The girls also have a 3-year-old sister who has been in the custody of the Department of Children and Families since the shooting incident.