Two women plead guilty in 2005 Griffy Lake stabbing

Monroe Circuit Judge Kenneth Todd sentenced two women on Wednesday who took part in the 2005 stabbing of a man at Griffy Lake. Both received maximum penalties for their crimes.\nAmy D. Boyce, 29, pleaded guilty to a felony battery charge for stabbing Bloomington resident Sky "Hatchet" McMillan three times last September and was sentenced to eight years in prison.\nTwo years of her eight-year term were suspended, with 168 days of credit. Boyce will serve out the final two years of her term on probation. In return for her plea of guilty, the state agreed to drop the charges of attempted murder, aggravated battery, conspiracy to commit battery causing serious bodily injury and obstruction of justice.\nBoyce's attorney, Stuart Baggerly, unsuccessfully attempted to convince the court that Boyce's mental disabilities and physical dependencies were grounds for a lower sentence. Boyce suffers from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as addictions to drugs and alcohol.\n"(She's) a desperate, pathetic person who has never had anything good happen to her," Baggerly said. "She's always been at the receiving end of bad things."\nBaggerly said Boyce was likely to respond affirmatively to probation.\nBoyce also took the stand to defend herself. \n"If I serve any more time that would not allow me to get the mental treatment and the drug treatment I need," she said.\nTodd found the aggravating factors of the case outweighed the mitigating ones in his final decision.\nJessica N. Stanger, 20, of Solsberry, was also sentenced Wednesday for taking part in the stabbing last fall.\nStanger, who had no previous criminal record, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of assisting a criminal and received a three-year prison term, with two and a half years suspended on probation. A conspiracy charge to commit battery resulting in serious bodily injury was dismissed by the court.\n"I didn't call the cops and ... I gave a false story (to the police)," Stanger admitted.\nBoyce and Stanger both related their version of the events leading up to the stabbing of McMillan. Stanger alleged she had no prior knowledge of the plan to harm McMillan, and after the group began attacking him, she retreated to the car. Boyce claimed she was forced to stab McMillan after being threatened by another member of the party.\nTwo other people charged in connection with the stabbing have been previously sentenced. In January, Katharine Lewis, 21, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of assisting a criminal. She received a three-year prison sentence with all but six months suspended on probation. Brandon Sloan, 18, pled guilty in December to an amended felony charge of assisting a criminal. He received a three-year prison term, with all but one year and 194 days suspended on probation.\nBoyce, Lewis, Sloan and Stanger were part of a group who lured McMillan, 36, to Griffy Lake Sept. 17, 2005, with the intent to harm him. According to police documents, the victim allegedly incited the group at People's Park that evening by making offensive comments about a deceased friend.\nAfter engaging in a hostile dispute at the park, they traveled with the victim to Griffy Lake, Boyce and Stanger said. After beating and stabbing McMillan, the group left him there.\nMcMillan, who suffered two stab wounds and a partially collapsed lung, called 911 from the lake's boathouse. Paramedics admitted him to the Bloomington Hospital that night as a critical care patient.