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SALT LAKE CITY — KSL.com frequently writes about inmates at the Utah State Prison who are seeking parole after serving a number of years — sometimes numerous years — incarcerated.
Here are a few decisions issued this year:
Ariel Hampton
Ariel Hampton was granted parole and is scheduled to be released Oct. 8.
On May 7, 2009, Hampton, of Centerfield, Sanpete County, claimed she found her daughter, 2-year-old Kirsten Anderson, face down in a swimming pool and unresponsive. However, doctors and investigators were quickly suspicious of what had really happened due to bruising all over the child's body and because she did not have any water in her lungs.
Hampton later admitted to beating her daughter to death. She pleaded guilty to reduced charges of child abuse homicide and obstruction of justice. She was sentenced to consecutive terms of one to 15 years in the Utah State Prison.
During a parole hearing in June, Hampton, now 38, talked about the lifestyle changes she has made while in prison and how her mental health has greatly improved.
The board stated that Hampton's release "is contingent on remaining compliant with your case action plan and completing all recommended cognitive behavioral therapy classes that are available … and having no major discipline violations."
Utah inmate with months to live seeks parole for brutal 1991 murder
Timothy Howard Edwards doesn't believe he will live through the end of this year, but he is hoping he will be granted parole from his life sentence for the 1991 brutal killing of a 19-year-old newlywed in southern Utah.James Pernell Sherard
In 1987, James Pernell Sherard was spared the death penalty after pleading guilty to aggravated murder in the brutal stabbing death of Madeline Beltran, 52, who he repeatedly stabbed in the throat, chest, legs and lower abdomen. In 1989, the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole told him he would serve the rest of his natural life in prison.
In 2020, however, the board entertained the idea of holding a rehearing upon completion of certain programs and due to his disciplinary-free record and positive employment history. A parole hearing for Sherard, 55, was granted in April.
The board has since decided that Sherard is "eligible for parole consideration," but not this year. The five-member board ordered him to complete a sex offender treatment program by January before a new hearing is scheduled for sometime in 2025.
Brian Newton
Brian Newton will spend at least five more years in prison.
On May 30, 2012, Mckenzie Fronk, 18, was raped by Newton at gunpoint after going with her friends to a house party in West Valley City. Newton was charged with four felony crimes, and in 2014 a jury convicted him of aggravated sexual assault and aggravated assault. He was sentenced to a term of 10 years to life in the Utah State Prison. He appealed his case to the Utah Supreme Court, which upheld his conviction.
But in September of 2020 — just four months after the Utah Supreme Court upheld Newton's conviction — Fronk took her own life because of her fear that Newton would be released and that he would come after her.
During a parole hearing in April, Newton, 34, refused to talk much about his crime while still contending, "We have differing stories as to what happened."
The Board of Pardons recently ordered a new hearing to be held sometime in 2029, while noting that parole was being denied to Newton at this time because "your offense(s) is characterized by extreme cruelty or depravity that is greater than similar offenses within the same sentencing guideline crime category," and "your risk or ongoing behavior warrants additional incarceration and/or program completion for risk reduction."
