Years after telling police his girlfriend died by suicide, Jacksonville man pleads guilty to manslaughter

Aunesty Summer Rayne Hite's late summer 2017 death was initially termed a suicide by her boyfriend after the young couple's night out on the town.

That changed a few months later with Sean Curtis Lovins' arrest on a charge of second-degree murder in her death.

Thursday the Jacksonville case was finally put to rest as Lovins, now 31, was sentenced. But it was for only one year in jail followed by five years of probation on the lesser charge of manslaughter, after already serving two behind bars while waiting for trial. The sentence and plea were approved in advance by Hite's mother after she talked with the 20-year-old's former boyfriend, prosecutors said.

None of what they discussed in that meeting can be released, based on a late April hearing between the prosecutor, defense attorney, suspect and judge.

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"Part of our agreement is that the conversation between Mr. Lovins and her was to remain off the record," defense attorney Jesse Dreicer said, according to the hearing transcript.

"Yes, our agreement was that it was to be used for the purpose of negotiations and resolving the case, and not for purposes of litigation," Dan Skinner, State Attorney's Office Homicide Division director,  said in response.

But as more about the circuitous route to the plea agreement and Lovins' sentence was revealed Thursday, Hite's mother had the last word before sentencing in her victim impact statement.

Leanna Young does not mention the reduced sentence that she agreed to in her one-page statement. Instead, she admits that her "beyond beautiful baby girl" deserves her tears and that she "will never stop weeping for you."

"Your life on this earth was taken entirely too soon," she said in court. "I will never know the joy of seeing you with your own children. ... Life will never be the same without you, none of us will ever be the same. There are no words to describe the anguish, the anger of the confusion."

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And in her statement, Hite's grandmother let anger for Lovins seep in as she called her granddaughter a "soft summer rain that refreshes the soul."

"Whether this incident was by accident or intent, it has taken up to this point for you to own up to the responsibility of your actions," Deborah Stephens said of Lovins, whom she never named.

"I pray someday I will reach that point where the wound in my heart will scab over and the darkness in my soul will diminish," she wrote in her statement.

Manslaughter case transcripts offer glimpse into what happened

Court transcripts and records explain some of what happened and led up to the change in charges.

Officers were called on July 29, 2017, to the couple's apartment on Dunsford Terrace where Lovins said his girlfriend, a preschool teacher who had been divorced earlier that year, shot herself while he was asleep.

The couple had been out at two bars and a friend's apartment that night then went home. A few hours later, Lovins ran to a neighbor’s apartment saying Hite shot herself. In a brief interview with officers, Lovins said the same thing until he was confronted about telling his mother at the scene it was an accident.

Skinner said the couple had come home and were talking when Lovins "became angry in a totally unrelated matter."

"A gun was produced," Skinner previously said in court. "And during the handling of the gun between the two, the gun was fired striking Ms. Hite in the right portion, just above her ear, a through-and-through wound, one gunshot wound to her head."

If a trial was held, Skinner told the judge that the prosecution would show that Lovins did kill Hite "by shooting without justification." But it would be under circumstances that did not constitute excusable homicide or murder, he added. Skinner also said he and Dreicer had "diametrically opposed theories" on what occurred.

But Skinner's subsequent May 12 disposition summary, released after Thursday's sentencing, reveals more about the shooting and its aftermath up through this year. In it, he says the negotiated deal primarily entails concerns of disproving claims that Hite committed suicide.

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"Some plausible evidence supporting the defense’s theory and Hite’s mother’s desire for this outcome further guided the state’s decision," Skinner wrote.

The prosecution's evidence concluded Hite was shot at a distance of 2 feet or greater, and the angle ruled out suicide. The defense countered the shot was a contact wound and that text messages from Hite in the past could be interpreted she had thoughts of suicide.

The investigation also found conflicting gunfire residue analysis and noted Lovins had no criminal history that could have challenged his credibility.

"Combined, these developments revealed that the defense was establishing enough evidence to plausibly support its theory of suicide," the summary said. "All of this was explained to Hite’s mother, who understood the challenges to the states’ case."

As the prosecution and defense spent more months exchanging plea offers, Hite’s mother told prosecutors of her desire to expedite getting the case resolved.

"She did not want to risk going to trial and Lovins being found not guilty — an outcome she believes would be the equivalent of a jury affirming Hite committed suicide," the summary reads. " Additionally, Hite’s mother did not want her daughter’s private life put on display during trial."

In the end, Skinner said they came up with a sentence that holds Lovins accountable, is comparable to other case outcomes and adheres to the primary wishes of the family.

scanlan@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4549

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Plea deal in girlfriend's death resolves Jacksonville 'suicide' case