One of the four teenagers who was convicted for throwing a rock onto a darkened central Pennsylvania highway, smashing through a window and seriously injuring a Stark County teacher was granted parole Wednesday.
According to The Daily Item, Keefer McGee, 19, served 11 and a half months in jail—the minimum sentence for his role in the Sharon Budd rock-throwing case.
McGee was 17 when he was charged.
When McGee testified in court, he said two others — Dylan Lahr and Tyler Porter — jumped out of his car after he stopped at an overpass on Interstate 80 on July 10, armed with rocks they had collected earlier.
"I knew they were going to throw rocks, but never thought they were going to hurt anyone as they did it," McGee said.
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A 4.6-pound rock smashed through the front windshield of a car passing below, landing directly on the head of Budd, a middle school language arts teacher from Uniontown, Ohio, on her way to see a show in New York.
Budd, a passenger in the vehicle driven by her daughter, suffered massive head injuries.
McGee eventually pleaded guilty to aggravated assault charges with the dismissal of other charges.
According to The Daily Item, Judge Michael Sholley said McGee met the terms of his sentencing and saw no reason to keep him behind bars any longer.
The judge also touched on the death of Sharon Budd's husband, Randy, in court. Randy took his own life earlier this month. At the time, Union County District Attorney Pete Johnson told PennLive.com: "Randy Budd did not die of a gunshot. He died when those kids threw a rock through his windshield."
