Hendersonville man pleads guilty to murder, sentenced to at least 38 years in prison
A 39-year-old Hendersonville man recently pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to at least 38 years in prison.
Terry Jason Brank pleaded guilty on April 27 and received an aggravated sentence of 456 months (38 years) and a maximum of 560 months (46.5 years), according to a news release from the office of R. Andrew Murray, District Attorney for Henderson, Polk, and Transylvania counties. Superior Court Judge Peter Knight sentenced the defendant.
Brank was originally charged with first-degree murder.
According to court trial records and the sentencing hearing, at around 10 p.m. on July 10, 2018, Henderson County Sheriff Deputies responded to a 911 call for a welfare check concerning the defendant’s girlfriend, Laura Cox, who resided in the Dupont Estates Community. Deputies have responded to the address numerous times in the past for domestic-related calls for service, according to previous reporting.
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The caller was a neighbor of Cox and reported being concerned for Cox’s safety after the defendant informed a different neighbor that Cox was dead in their shared trailer, according to the release. The caller reported the defendant was intoxicated and belligerent. The caller attempted to access the trailer where Cox lived but the door was locked, and Cox failed to respond to her repeated knocking.
When deputies arrived, they were met by Brank who exited the trailer and was “extremely impaired.”
“Brank immediately blurted out that he had messed up and killed her and that he was sorry for what he had done and that he loved her. Brank’s clothes appeared to be blood spattered. Brank was secured by deputies, and they entered the trailer. The deputies found the victim deceased on the floor of a bedroom wrapped up in a sheet. She had been stabbed to death, and it was apparent to the deputies that she had been deceased for quite some time,” the DA’s office said in the press release.
Brank was evaluated for diminished capacity as a defense, and for his mental competency to stand trial. He was found to have significant mental impairments, but ultimately found to be minimally competent to stand trial and participate in his own defense with appointed counsel.
Assistant District Attorney Doug Mundy handled the prosecution and sentencing.
This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Hendersonville man pleads guilty to second-degree murder charge
