A Michigan man could spend more than a decade in prison for letting his girlfriend freeze to death because she came home intoxicated. Charles Campbell Jr. was sentenced to 19 months to 15 years after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
The deadly incident occurred in February 2014. Campbell’s girlfriend, Tamika Hurd, was drunk when she was dropped off at home, after a night out with family. The 32-year-old managed to get inside and shower, but found her way back on the inclosed unheated porch wearing only a T-shirt and jeans. The temperature was between 24 and 27 degrees.
Upset with the 32-year-old’s drinking, Campbell recorded Hurd on the porch and can be heard “berating” her. He then went to sleep. “Without a phone, Hurd was unable to get help,” said assistant prosecutors Courtney O’Malley.
By the time Campbell woke up the next morning, Hurd was dead on the porch. “I’m sorry it happened, but I tried to help her,” Campbell, 49, said in court last week. “It hurts me.”
The judge called Hurd’s death “avoidable” noting the fine line between “tough love and compassion.”
Hurd’s family says has yet to apologize to them personally. “In hindsight, he would have gone out and gotten her,” said Campbell’s lawyer. “Every day he cries in jail.”
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Photo: screenshot
