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LAYTON — An Ogden man was sentenced to up to life in prison Thursday after a playful "slap boxing" match escalated to murder.
Jory Arlow Fenstermaker, 22, was sentenced to 16 years and potentially life in prison for shooting and killing Randy Lennell Lewis, 29, of Kansas City, Missouri, in March 2015. He also received a concurrent sentence of up to five years for possession of a weapon by a restricted person, a third-degree felony, his attorney confirmed.
A jury convicted Fenstermaker in February after he claimed at trial he had shot Lewis in self-defense. He was acquitted of one count of aggravated assault, a second-degree felony.
Fenstermaker and Lewis were drinking, had taken a selfie together, were playfully "slap boxing," and had talked and joked extensively that night, a witness testified during a January 2016 preliminary hearing. At some point the sparring escalated and attempts were made to separate the men.
Fenstermaker claimed Lewis made threats against his life and was about to get a kitchen knife, and that he shot the man to protect himself.
Fenstermaker's attorney, Russell Farr, said the question at the heart of his attorney's case was "at what time does a person give up their right to self-defense?"
"The jury was instructed, as the statute required, that it could not consider self-defense if they believed Jory was a user of marijuana or had possessed it that night," Farr said following the sentencing hearing. "I believe that if a person is restricted from carrying a firearm, then they should be punished for violating that law. But that fact should not convert an act of self-defense to murder."
Fenstermaker is still facing a jury trial in August in an unrelated case, where he is also represented by Farr.
While he was free pending his trial in the Lewis case, Fenstermaker allegedly got into an argument with a man at Lucky Slice Pizzeria, 200 25th St. on July 17. The men took their argument outside where Fenstermaker threw a slice of pizza at the other man and then drew a gun from his pants pocket and pointed it at him, according to charging documents.
The incident was recorded on the restaurant's surveillance camera. Fenstermaker told police he was armed with an Airsoft gun.
Fenstermaker has pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated assault, a third-degree felony, and disorderly conduct, a class C misdemeanor.
