'Second son I've lost to murder': Mother of Brockton stabbing victim decries sentence

BROCKTON – City resident Alisha Rutledge has lost two children to violence.

"This is the second son I've lost to murder, so I really hope your honor will give him the maximum sentence," Rutledge told Superior Court Justice Robert Gordon during a victim impact statement.

Gordon sentenced Cody Urban – the South Boston man who fatally stabbed Samuel Rutledge, a Brockton father, after an incident at the Stop 'N Gas station downtown on Warren Avenue on Aug. 23, 2020, – to spend the next 11 to 13 years in state prison at the Souza Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley.

Urban, who was clad in a blue suit and handcuffs, sat between his defense attorneys as the judge gave Rutledge's surviving family members a chance to give their victim impact statements on Thursday, Aug. 4.

"We gained an angel ... again," wept Chante Rutledge, one of the victim's four sisters. Some years prior, "we also lost our youngest brother to murder – he was only 15 years old," she said.

Sammy, as his family lovingly called him, was a motivated man with high hopes and big goals for his life, his sisters and mother each said in their statements.

The victim's mother and his other two sisters, Tamara Rutledge and Janelle Rutledge, joined the court via Zoom.

"I'm asking your honor to please give Mr. Urban the maximum sentencing possible for his manslaughter conviction," Tamara Rutledge said.

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She was also very emotional while making her statement.

"My brother was my go-to person when I needed anything," she said while crying. "He gave the best hugs."

Alisha Rutledge was next to speak.

"The video we saw during the trial showed proof that Mr. Urban committed the murder and that it wasn't an accident," she said.

Chante continued, "Mr. Urban took a very good man away from us. Sammy was a father, son and uncle. Every day reminds us of him."

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A record dating back to 2013

Urban, who is now 26 years old, is "no stranger to the justice system," according to Gordon, the presiding justice at the sentencing.

His record dates to 2013 when he committed assault and battery on strangers, for which he was sentenced to nine months of served time.

In 2016, Urban committed larceny over $150 and was sentenced to two years. And in 2019, while he already had two open cases on charges of being in possession of a dangerous weapon – a knife – and a loaded firearm, police also found a semi-automatic pistol in his possession, which led the courts to again sentence Urban to 18 months of served time plus an additional three years of probation, Gordon said in court.

"The appalling circumstances of the 2020 killing of Mr. Rutledge as well as the grave consequences the victim's family now has to face, shows that the defendant is well past his time to receive punishment for his crimes," Gordon said.

Urban was on probation for his 2019 possession of the semi-automatic pistol when he killed Rutledge.

He was convicted of voluntary manslaughter by a jury after an eight-day trial on July 23, 2022.

"This is a stiff punishment for the state, based on his conviction, but falls well within our normal punishment in Superior Court," Gordon said.

The state's maximum sentence on a manslaughter conviction is 20 years in prison. According to Beth Stone, the media spokesperson for the DA's office, the prosecution had asked the judge to consider sentencing Urban to between 18 to 20 years.

As Urban was exiting the courtroom, preparing to be transported to Souza Baranowski, Urban's loved ones yelled out from the spectator area: "Keep your head up, Cody. We love you."

The Rutledge family was tearful but left the courtroom quietly. Outside, the prosecutors comforted the family.

"I am not happy for what they gave him," Alisha Rutledge told The Enterprise via email. "I am really upset" he wasn't given the maximum sentence, she said.

Rutledge leaves behind two children: a boy who was 10 at the time Rutledge was killed and a girl who was 1, as well as four sisters, his nephews and nieces, and his mother.

Staff writer Namu Sampath can be reached at nsampath@enterprisenews.com, or you can follow her on Twitter @namusampath. Thank you, subscribers. You make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Brockton Enterprise.

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton stabbing: Cody Urban sentenced in killing of Samuel Rutledge