GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Walker man who killed his family in 2003 was resentenced Thursday, much to the dismay of the judge who told the courtroom he had to follow the law.
Jon Siesling was 17 in 2003 when he bludgeoned and stabbed his mother and also killed his sisters, ages 6 and 15, at their Walker home. He was sentenced to life behind bars with no chance for parole.
He appeared in court for a resentencing hearing in 2021, but his life sentence was upheld.
"In 24 years of doing my job, I've never seen a more scary individual and an individual who should be feared," Chief Assistant Kent County Prosecutor Monica Janiskee said at the time.
Due to a Supreme Court ruling that found mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles unconstitutional, juvenile lifer Siesling had a new day in court to learn his new sentence.
Kent County Judge Mark Trusock resentenced Siesling to a minimum of 40 years, with a maximum sentence of 60 years.
He has 20 years left to serve before the Michigan Department of Corrections could consider any chance of parole, the Judge said.
"This was one of the most horrific, and brutal, and outrageous murders that I have ever heard of or aware of," Judge Trusock said. "This is the worst, most egregious murder I've ever been involved with."
The Judge said every time there is a resentencing, the family has to endure and relive the most horrific day of their lives. But he also shared he has to follow the law.
A family friend read a victim impact statement in court before the judge shared his sentence.
"When we reach for the phone to call, Sharon's not there," the family friend said.
"Jonny brutally murdered three members of his family. They are gone. We the living victims struggle every day with the pain of such tremendous loss."
Siesling winced at times as the family described the brutality of the killing, hanging his head and wiping his nose.
Attorneys representing Siesling told the court he shares the horror and regret every day of what he did to his mother and sisters.
"The law does not say that Jon is excused for the horrific acts that he committed when he was 17 years old," she said. "But what the law does say, and why we are here, is that the law recognizes that teenagers do not remain the same. They have the capacity to grow, they have the capacity to change."
"He is not a monster, he is not a danger. He is a person who did a terrible thing when he was a teenager."
His counsel asked for a lighter sentence.
The judge gave him an opportunity to speak in court before the sentence.
"The crimes that I committed can never be undone," Siesling said. "No loss can ever be quantified."
"Take him to prison, please," Mark Trusock said after reading his sentence.
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