CASSOPOLIS — A 42-year-old Porter Township man who violently disengaged his own mother’s oxygen supply and threatened to eat two people now faces up to 20 years in prison.

 

Shawn Lockmondy’s 69-year-old mother, Adrienne Lockmondy, has suffered from

 

emphysema and other respiratory issues for many years, including the Aug. 12, 2012, offense date.

 

For the past two years her doctor required her to be on oxygen 24-7. 

 

Jury trial testimony established that without access to pure oxygen for even five minutes, her life comes into jeopardy.

 

Cass County Prosecutor Victor Fitz, who tried the jury case, argued in closing that Shawn Lockmondy was a bully and a stalker, motivated by selfishness and alcohol.

 

 “Shawn Lockmondy is a clear and present danger to his mother, his father and the entire Cass County community,” Fitz said. “Because of alcohol and rage, he almost killed his own mother. The defendant will be held accountable for his life-threatening actions.”

 

Evidence established that in mid-June, 2012, the 42-year- old declared “this is war” when his 68-year-old father, Robert Lockmondy, informed him they would no longer be his ride to work and other locations. 

 

The defendant’s license to drive was suspended.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Lockmondy made this decision due to the defendant’s repeated failure to show up for their “taxi service” due to alcohol consumption, insolence and repeated late-night activity. 

 

For the next eight weeks, the defendant, who lived down the lane from his parent’s 13862 U.S. 12 residence, when drunk, intermittently terrorized his parents with

 

Episodes of intimidating behavior, including banging on their windows, threatening to kill them, yelling obscenities from the roadway, knocking over furniture in their house and damaging entire sections of their fence line.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Lockmondy continued to allow their son to come to their home on

 

occasion, particularly when sober, but were increasingly distressed by his actions. 

 

Testimony indicated that from mid-June of 2012 to Aug. 12, 2012, they called the

 

police to report his threatening and concerning behavior on approximately five occasions.

 

On Aug. 12 while under the apparent influence of an intoxicating substance, the

 

defendant showed up at his parents’ home sometime after 11 p.m.  Only his mother was home. She allowed him into the house, at which time he threatened to smash her skull and kill her. 

 

The defendant also told her he might go down to a local tavern, get a couple people, kill them and bring them home to eat.

 

Mrs. Lockmondy testified that after these chilling comments the defendant then kicked her oxygen concentrator machine, pulled the plug from the wall, and stomped on the electrical prongs.  He then fled from the house. 

 

Mrs. Lockmondy was able on her second try to re-open the prongs, and then, with considerable effort, get onto the floor and plug the concentrator back in. 

 

Her husband returned home shortly thereafter to find gasoline poured around the house, including near the front and back door entrances. 

 

Cass County Sheriff’s Office testimony confirmed the presence of the fire accelerant around the exterior of the house, as well as an empty gas can in the garage.

 

The defendant was arrested several days later.

 

The jury trial began on June 11 and concluded at 4:30 p.m. the following day. 

 

Jurors deliberated an hour before returning a verdict to guilty for assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder and stalking. 

 

The jury returned not-guilty verdicts on charges of attempted murder, assault with a dangerous weapon (gasoline) and arson/preparation to burn.

 

The defendant has previous felony convictions for attempted fleeing and eluding in St. Joseph County, Mich., and operating while intoxicated/third.

 

The defendant spent approximately five years in prison during the mid-2000s for the Indiana felony conviction.

 

Sentencing on the current convictions has been scheduled for July 12 at 8:30 a.m. in front of Cass County Circuit Judge Michael Dodge.