'I am not infallible': Erie judge cuts sentence in manslaughter case sent back to him

A 27-year-old Erie man was in line for a break after the Pennsylvania Superior Court set aside some of the sentence he received for fatally shooting a 40-year-old man outside a convenience store in Erie's Little Italy neighborhood in October 2021.

When he was resentenced in Erie County Common Pleas Court, the defendant, Kyontia L. Blanks, got a bigger break than what the District Attorney's Office said he deserved.

Erie County Judge Daniel Brabender cut Blanks' sentence for his conviction for voluntary manslaughter by two to four years.

Brabender in February 2023 sentenced Blanks to nine to 18 years. On Thursday, he resentenced him to seven to 14 years.

The District Attorney's Office contended that the new sentence, based on the Superior Court decision, should have been no less than 8½ to 17 years.

The Public Defender's Office argued that the decision did not preclude Brabender from reconsidering the original sentence altogether.

Brabender opted for a total reconsideration.

The new sentence, like the original sentence, is in the standard range of the state sentencing guidelines, though the new sentence is on the lower end of the standard range while the original sentence was on the higher end. Blanks faced a maximum sentence of 20 years for voluntary manslaughter.

"This is more in line with the guidelines," Brabender said as he delivered the new sentence. "The facts of the case call for a lesser sentence."

"I am a judge," Brabender said. "But I am not infallible."

Voluntary manslaughter for shooting at Quick Stop

A jury convicted Blanks of voluntary manslaughter and other charges in January 2023. He was found guilty of killing the victim, Frederick Perry, outside the Quick Stop store at 408 W. 18th St., at the corner of Chestnut Street, at about 5:35 p.m. on Oct. 21, 2020.

Perry was unarmed. Blanks was standing in front of the store as he fired twice at Perry as he was getting out of his car parked in the front of the building. The shooting, at point-blank range, was captured on surveillance video.

The conviction for voluntary manslaughter meant that the jury found that Blanks intended to kill Perry, though under the mistaken belief that Blanks needed to use deadly force to protect himself. The jury rejected the prosecution's argument that Blanks was guilty of first-degree murder, a premeditated killing.

Blanks said he acted in self-defense. He testified that he was afraid of Perry because he had threatened his life twice in the weeks leading up to the shooting, including one incident at the Quick Stop, in a dispute over a woman. Blanks' court-appointed trial lawyer, Gene Placidi, argued for an acquittal.

Superior Court decision centered on merger issue

On appeal, an assistant public defender, Jessica Fiscus, argued that Blanks' original sentence was too long. She said Brabender, for sentencing purposes, failed to merge Blanks' conviction for voluntary manslaughter with his conviction for recklessly endangering another person.

The Superior Court agreed. In a unanimous decision filed May 16, a three-judge panel said the two convictions should have merged at sentencing because "they arose from a single criminal act" — the shooting of Perry.

The conviction for recklessly endangering another person added six months to a year to Blanks' original sentence.

The Superior Court decision left the new sentence up to Brabender's discretion. The District Attorney's Office asked Brabender to reduce the sentence only by six months to a year due to the merger ruling.

"We are not here to revisit the rest of the sentence," Assistant District Attorney Michael Burns, who handled the resentencing, told Brabender.

As she argued for a lower sentence, Fiscus said Blanks continues to have widespread family support — about 25 relatives and friends were in court on his behalf on Thursday, with no one for Perry in the gallery. She said Blanks has stayed out of trouble while at the state prison at Albion.

Fiscus reviewed the trial defense. Blanks' killing of Perry, she said, was not premeditated.

"It occurred because he was afraid, and he made a bad judgment in that moment," Fiscus told Brabender. "His mistake in that moment of fear led to the loss of Mr. Perry's life, and we are sorry for that."

Blanks told Brabender that "I need to think before I do things."

Judge gives defendant 'light at end of tunnel'

Brabender told Blanks that the video of the shooting showed that Blanks, instead of recoiling in fear when he saw Perry, "moved forward" before he fired. But Brabender also credited Fiscus' work on his appeal, and he said the new sentence of seven to 14 years "is more appropriate than what I gave before."

Brabender referred to all Blanks' supporters seated in the gallery. He urged him to take advantage of the lower sentence.

"In some ways you have a light at the end of the tunnel," Brabender said. "Don't disappoint these people here."

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com or 814-870-1813. Follow him on X @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Manslaughter case: Sentence reduced in shooting at Erie Quick Stop