Jury recommends 30-year sentence in Danville killing

A Danville Circuit Court jury recommended a 30-year sentence Wednesday for a Danville man found guilty of five charges in an August murder on Wayles Street.

Robert Louis Winslow, 33, faced a maximum sentence of 78 years.

A Danville jury found Winslow guilty of second-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a murder, malicious wounding, use of a firearm in the commission of a malicious wounding and shooting within an occupied dwelling.

The Aug. 25 shooting killed Ashley Dawn Echols, 26, and wounded another man.

After the jury returned its sentence, Winslow pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm after convicted of a felony. A circuit court judge will sentence Winslow for the possession charge and rule on the jury’s recommendation March 3.

Jurors heard closing arguments, reached a verdict, heard evidence during the sentencing phase and recommended a sentence during proceedings Wednesday.

Testimony during the trial established that the four men in the home at Wayles Street were longtime friends. An argument started, and Kevin Tanner testified that Winslow drew a .357-caliber handgun after Tanner confronted him. Tanner said the .357 fired as he tried to punch Winslow.

A bullet went through the wall and hit Echols, a mother of two. She was lying on the sofa in the living room.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Newman asked jurors to sentence Winslow toward the maximum.

Newman said Winslow could not have a gun because of a prior felony conviction.

“Without that firearm, we just have three or four drunks hitting each other,“ he said. “Ashley is still alive at that point. This is why felons are not supposed to have guns.”

He asked jurors to remember that Winslow’s family could visit him in jail.

“That family will never see their little girl again,” Newman said, referring to Echols family in the gallery.

Defense attorney Jason Eisner asked jurors to remember the evidence of the sentencing hearing. He asked them to sentence Winslow at the lower end of the guidelines. The minimum sentence was 20 years.

During the hearing, friends and family testified that Winslow is not a violent person. He has six children and is a great dad, they said.

“The person we have here, on any other day, is a responsible father, uncle, worker, neighbor,” Eisner said. “That night in August, he made some unfortunate decisions.”

Twenty years is still a long time, Eisner said, despite it being the minimum sentence jurors could recommend.

Eisner said, “He’s going to have a long time to think about what happened that night.”