Sioux Falls man connected to 2020 homicide sentenced to 50 years in prison
Saivaughn Robert Carlstrom was taken unexpectedly from the lives of his loved ones Nov. 7, 2020. It has been three years, but his friends and family say they remember the day like it was yesterday.
“He was my heartbeat,” said Kristin Kaiser, Carlstrom’s mother. “I told him the day he was born (that) it added an extra beat to my heart. I miss seeing his beautiful smile, I miss hearing him laugh. My son had his whole life ahead of him.”
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Carlstrom, 25 today if he was alive, died was the victim of a 2020 Sioux Falls homicide while his girlfriend Sierra Winton, was kidnapped and tortured after Carlstrom’s death that same night.
Lamont Dion Walker, 51, the man arrested for the first degree manslaughter of Carlstrom, was sentenced for 50 years in prison during a hearing Tuesday at the Minnehaha County Courthouse building in Sioux Falls. The sentencing started at 9 a.m., with hours of witness testimony.
Judge John Pekas, who presided over the hearing credited Walker with the 1,129 days he has spent in prison from the time of his arrest in 2020 to date. He also stated $116.50 as the amount to be paid in court costs and state fines through the Board of Pardons and Paroles. Traci Smith and Lisa Capellupo were the defense attorneys and Colleen Moran and Rhett Bye were the state attorneys.
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On the night of Nov. 7, 2020, Walker, Carlstrom and Winton set out with the intent of committing at least one robbery, but later when that couldn’t be successful, they drove out to the east of Brandon. In an area described as “rural,” Walker stabbed Carlstrom in the eye with a cutter, struck him with a wooden object, forced him into a ditch and shot him twice in the head with his own gun, according to arguments by Moran.
Finally, Walker went on to dump all the things from Winton’s purse onto the ground next to Carlstrom’s body and then set everything on fire. The fire was what was discovered by officers, with exclamations of “there’s a body in the ditch,” according to police camera footage shown by the state at the hearing.
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Moran described Walker’s acts that night as “horrendous” and said, “this case has no equal.” She said Carlstrom had bloodstains on his torso, gunshot wounds on the left eye, scratches on his back and knee and multiple lacerations. She quoted Winton’s statement, when she said “she thought she was next.”
“I loved Saivaughn with all my heart,” said Winton, who was present at the hearing and addressed Walker in the hearing, trying to understand why he did what he did to both of them.
“We were not doing good, and you took full advantage of that,” she said directly to Walker, describing him as “sick” and genuinely in need of help. “It took so long for me to want to be alive. I couldn’t look in the mirror for so long after what you did to me. You took a whole part of me and that part can die, it’s fine.”
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Kaiser described this as “a sad situation,” saying her son was good and that she was proud of him, also addressing Walker at times during her statement at the hearing.
“I’m really trying to forgive you, I really am,” she said to Walker. “The day I lost my son is the day I went to bed. We had an unbreakable bond,” she said addressing the court.
Carlstrom’s two sisters, who were also present at hearing as witnesses, said they felt “angry, sad and hurt.”
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“It scares me to know that there are people in this world who could do such horrific things,” said Ashley Elliott, his younger sister. “Sometimes, when I think of him, my stomach hurts, my eyes swell and it’s difficult to breathe.”
Kate Cook, Carlstrom’s 6-year-old son's grandmother, described the situation as “cruel” and “not fair” while thinking of her grandson who just lost his dad. She said they “all have to ensure that the little boy can live his best life.”
Winton says she’s “so glad that today has come” and she’s “waited three years for this to just be over.”
Walker was initially facing 12 other charges, including, first degree murder, aggravated assault, first-degree kidnapping and second-degree rape, all of which were dropped because of the plea agreement where he pleaded guilty to first degree manslaughter in September.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Sioux Falls man charged with first degree manslaughter sentenced to 50 years in prison
