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As 20-year-old Talon Levi Hamann received his sentence for stabbing a man to death in a Holladay church parking lot, the judge said one detail stood in the way of mercy.
"I am very much struggling with one fact, Mr. Hamann," said 3rd District Judge Deno Himonas. "You left a young man to bleed out. Nobody bothered calling the police. Nobody bothered calling the E.R."
Himonas sentenced Hamann to serve consecutive prison terms totaling up to 25 years — the maximum for manslaughter, obstruction of justice and witness tampering in the death of 25-year-old Michael Workman.
A jury in July convicted Hamann after hearing testimony that he attacked Workman as he left a friend's house near 1600 East and 5000 South in Holladay at about 3 a.m. on Aug. 23.
Hamann, who was with two other men — who did not know Workman — stabbed him eight times and left him in the grass outside a nearby LDS church.
"Mercy would call for a lesser sentence," Himonas said. "But ... you knew what happened. Rather than take responsibility at that time or alert anybody to potentially save his life, you left him there and tried to cover it up."
Workman's family challenged statements made during trial that Hamann and his companions confronted Workman in defense of a woman who said Workman assaulted her earlier in the evening, and that Workman had been belligerent with them.
"There is one thing he does not do, and has never done: He's never been one to disrespect a woman," said Robert Workman, Michael's father.
But Robert Workman refused to weigh in on Hamann's sentence, saying he hoped only that rehabilitation was in Hamann's future.
"Mr. Hamann killed my son. For that I am very sorrowful, but I don't want to be his judge," he said as Hamann began to weep. "I want to be, if necessary ... his advocate."
Workman's sister, Kimberly Hoenie, said she feels "so much hurt and anger."
"I want my brother's picture in his cell," Hoenie said. "Every day, I want him to look at him and know what a good person Mike was."
Hamann spoke briefly, making no plea for lenience.
"I basically know I'm going to prison. I accept that because I took someone else's life," Hamann said. "I can never adequately represent the remorsefulness that I feel. I'm sorry, but it's never enough. I don't know what else to say."
Hamann's attorney, Heidi Buchi, argued that probation was consistent with sentences issued to Austin Scott Taylor and Ryan Gordon Curtz, the two men who joined in the attack on Workman and who accepted plea deals in exchange for testifying against Hamann. They both were sentenced to community service and three years' probation, but Taylor went to prison after two probation violations.
Prosecutor Chou Chou Collins said a prison sentence still leaves time for Hamann to live a productive life.
"He can use that time," Collins said. "He can finish his school that he hasn't finished. He can even go to college. He can attend programs. He has a lot of opportunity to better himself. This is not a life sentence, it's just a manslaughter sentence."
Himonas urged Hamann to continue trying to rehabilitate himself.
"You've done a lot," Himonas said. "I would encourage you to continue."
After he received his sentence, Hamann told Himonas that Hoenie was right: A photograph of Workman should go with him to prison.
"He knows what he got today, he deserved," Hamann's stepfather Gerrin McClister said outside the courtroom. "He has taken responsibility."