Judge Mark Stedelin Wednesday afternoon sentenced Ricky Norwood of Centralia to the maximum 20-year prison term for second-degree murder. He was found guilty in May by a Marion County Jury of the reduced murder charge in the August 2015 shooting death of Dustin Rhynes of Centralia. The original first-degree murder conviction reached in 2023 was thrown out due to misconduct by one of the jurors who had done their own investigation into the case while the trial was ongoing.
State’s Attorney Tim Hudspeth argued for the maximum sentence, noting the jury had already given Norwood a break when not finding him guilty of first-degree murder, and anything less than 20 years would give him almost no additional time for Rhynes’ death. State law requires only 50 percent of the sentence to be served in a second-degree murder case. Since the sentence will run concurrently with the five actual years Norwood has remaining on his federal drug conviction, the net effect will be to add about two years to Norwood’s total sentence.
Norwood delivered a very short statement in allocution to the court, saying, ‘I didn’t do it’.
Norwood’s attorney, Dennis Hatch, asked for in the range of a ten-year sentence. He said after the sentencing hearing, he would most likely file a motion to reconsider the sentence.
Victim impact statements were received from Rhynes’ mom and dad, as well as his son and his son’s mother, who was Rhynes’ former girlfriend. All indicated the pain Rhynes’ death has caused. His parents noted that after the sentence, Norwood will go back to his family, but they will continue to feel the pain of Rhynes’ loss every day.
