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VOLUME 169, No. 19 Thursday, May 11, 2023 PRICE $1.

T HE

H AST INGS

Devoted to the Interests of Barry County Since 1856

Three sentenced for roles in Brickley murder case

Greg Chandler

Staff Writer

Three defendants have begun serving time

behind bars for their role after the February

2021 murder of Gracyn Brickley in Maple

Grove Township.

The three – 37-year-old Dustin Scott Ste-

phens of Nashville, 47-year-old Colleen

Marie Rice of Hastings and 53-year-old Sher-

alyn Randolph of Nashville – were sentenced

Tuesday afternoon in Barry County court by

Judge Michael Schipper.

Stephens was sentenced to 80 months to 10

years in prison for tampering with evidence

after Brickley was murdered. He pleaded

guilty in March to the tampering charge,

along with being a felon in possession of a

firearm, being an accessory after the fact to a

felony and a felony firearms charge. He was

sentenced to 40-to-60 months on the felon in

possession and accessory after the fact

charges and an automatic two-year sentence

for the felony firearms charge.

“I’m sure this case will be appealed, but I

think there’s multiple, multiple reasons, very

good reasons why the defendant should serve

the maximum allowed by law in this case,”

Schipper said in passing sentence on the tam-

pering charge.

Rice was sentenced to one year in jail and

three years’ probation for tampering with

evidence, and will be allowed to take part in

a drug court program. She could have

received up to 10 years in prison on the

charge, but Schipper said at Rice’s plea hear-

ing last December that he would agree to

sentence her to no more than a year in jail

under what is called a Cobbs agreement.

Rice would have been allowed to withdraw

her plea and go to trial if Schipper decided to

back out of the Cobbs agreement. She

received credit for 270 days already served in

jail.

Randolph was sentenced to one year in jail

and two years’ probation for being an acces-

sory after the fact to a felony, which could

have resulted in a sentence of up to five years

in prison. She pleaded guilty to the charge in

March. Randolph received credit for 15 days

served in jail.

Brickley was shot to death on Feb. 16,

2021 outside of a residence on Guy Road just

outside of Nashville. Her killer, 18-year-old

Andrew Lafey, videotaped the slaying and

showed the video to Stephens, County Prose-

cutor Julie Nakfoor Pratt said.

Lafey is serving a life sentence for the

Brickley murder.

Nakfoor Pratt called for Schipper to sen-

tence Stephens to consecutive prison terms

tied to the tampering with evidence charge,

which is allowable under state law. The law

authorizes a court to impose consecutive sen-

tences “for any other crime including any

other violation of law arising out of the same

transaction as the violation of this section.”

(per Michigan Compiled Laws 750.483a(10).)

“The tampering can be consecutive to the

accessory. The tampering can be consecutive

to the felon in possession,” Nakfoor Pratt told

the court.

After Lafey showed Stephens the video of

him killing Brickley, Lafey asked Stephens to

help dispose of Brickley’s backpack and cell

phone. Stephens, in turn, called Rice to come

and help him dispose of those items. Later

that night, Stephens, Rice and a third individ-

ual left the residence where the slaying

occurred with Brickley’s backpack and cell-

phone, neither of which have been recovered,

Nakfoor Pratt wrote in a sentencing memo to

the court.

Rice later dropped Stephens off at his

uncle’s home where he met up with Ran-

dolph. In the early morning hours of Feb. 17,

Randolph and Stephens burned some of his

clothing. Stephens’ cell phone was destroyed

and thrown out a car window, and Randolph

ate the sim card that was in Stephens’ cell

phone, Nakfoor Pratt wrote in the memo.

“I do not understand how anybody could

let this happen,” the prosecutor told the court.

“(Stephens) was with Grace Brickley’s

things, doesn’t seem to know where they are,

takes his cell phone and destroys it and whips

it out a window, has his friend eat a sim card

out of the phone – I don’t understand how

you can do that. I don’t understand how that’s

your reaction. And he saw the video, he actu-

ally saw the video that we all saw – that’s a

nightmare that I, too, can’t get out of my head

and probably never will.”

Stephens had testified at Lafey’s prelimi-

nary hearing in November 2021 that he had

not seen Rice since the night of the murder,

but then upon re-direct examination admitted

he had seen her “a few weeks before the pre-

liminary hearing.” Rice had told a Barry

County sheriff’s detective that Stephens had

reached out to her, asking where she had dis-

posed of Brickley’s phone, according to Nak-

Culture war is poised to tarnish

sports for girls, women

See story on page 4

DK boys capture SAC

Central title

See story on page 9

Time capsule installed in new

Delton elementary building

See story on page 8

County board probes avenues to enhancing

compensation for elected officials

Jayson Bussa

Editor

Debate continued to smolder amongst the

Barry County Board of Commissioners on

whether or not the current method of setting

wages for elected officials is effective.

This discussion came on the heels of com-

missioners approving additional wage

increases for all county employees, except

those that were elected to their positions.

Late last year, commissioners also

approved bonuses for county employees but

elected officials were disqualified from those,

as well, meaning they have missed out on

thousands of dollars of additional pay

designed to combat inflation and promote

employee retention.

“They feel like they’ve been left out and

underappreciated and that’s what I worry

about that they’re feeling underappreciated

and we want them to know how much we

value them,” Commissioner Bob Teunessen

said during Tuesday’s board meeting.

The county board is tasked with bargaining

with labor unions that represent a good por-

tion of its employees and it also holds deci-

sion-making power in setting wages for gen-

eral fund department heads and non-repre-

sented employees.

However, county commissioners have no

State mounts latest effort to take gravel, sand mining oversight away from local townships

Jayson Bussa
Editor
A package of bills introduced to the Mich-
igan House of Representatives last month
represents the latest chapter in a tug-of-war
battle between the state and local municipali-
ties over which side will ultimately have the
power to permit and oversee sand and gravel
mines.
House Bills 4526, 4527 and 4528, which
have garnered bi-partisan support in the
House, aim to streamline the supply chain of
aggregate materials by handing power to per-
mit and oversee mines to the Michigan
Department of Environment, Great Lakes and
Energy (EGLE) rather than allow local gov-
ernmental units to make those calls.
The development of sand and gravel pits
can often become a contentious issue, with
local residents citing concerns that range

from dust and noise pollution to increased

traffic and environmental impact as reasons

why they don’t want one of these sites devel-

oped near them. State lawmakers fear that

pushback from the township and county gov-

ernments has stifled and will continue to sti-

fle the development of aggregate materials in

Michigan, where it is sorely needed to help

repair and reconstruct roads, amongst other

uses.

The bills were introduced by House Dem-

ocrats Angela Witwer (Delta Township) and

Tyrone Carter (Detroit) along with Republi-

can Pat Outman (Six Lakes). They have

co-sponsorships from seven Republican law-

makers and six Democrats.

While the latest legislation might be new,

From Delton to the Downs

See BRICKLEY, page 3

See COUNTY BOARD, page 2

See STATE MOUNTS, page 2

Chase Chamberlin remembered exactly when his obsession with horses first

began. It was at the age of 4 when he received his first riding lesson on Hallock

Road in Hickory Corners. On Saturday – 29 years later – the 33-year-old former

Delton-area resident hoisted a 14-karat gold trophy at Churchill Downs after his

horse won arguably the highest-profile horse race in the world. Chamberlin, who

attended Gull Lake Community Schools growing up, is one of the owners of

Mage, the colt who was victorious at this year’s 149th Annual Kentucky Derby.

The win came with a $1.8 million prize. This weekend’s edition of The Reminder

will provide a full rundown on Chamberlin’s journey through the world of horse

racing and how it felt to successfully win the “Run for the Roses.”

A view of a gravel pit owned by Hamilton-based Top Grade Aggregates, located at 3300 N. Patterson Road on the border of

Allegan and Barry Counties. It is one of three pits located on that particular stretch of Patterson Road. (Photo by Jayson Bussa)

Barry County Administrator Michael Brown stands during last week’s Committee of

the Whole meeting to field questions that commissioners had about the County

Officers Compensation Committee. (Photo by Jayson Bussa)

Dustin Scott Stephens of Nashville stands beside his attorney Brandon Gardner as he
appears in a Barry County courtroom on Tuesday afternoon to be sentenced for tamper-
ing with evidence related to the murder of Gracyn Brickley. (Photos by Greg Chandler)