Woman convicted in double homicide seeks reduced sentence under NY domestic violence law

(USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect) – Charlene Childers, the woman convicted for her role in the 2018 double homicide in Sodus, is asking a judge to reduce her prison sentence under New York’s Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act.

Childers is scheduled to appear in Wayne County Court on Friday for the first hearing in her request for resentencing, according to the Wayne County District Attorney’s Office.

Childers pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in 2019 for her role in planning the killings of Josh Niles and his fiancée, Amber Washburn.

Prosecutors said Childers conspired with her husband, Tim Dean, who fatally shot Niles and Washburn outside their Sodus home in 2018.

Childers is serving a 28-year prison sentence.

New York’s Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act gives judges the discretion to impose reduced sentences for eligible survivors of domestic violence if they can show the abuse they experienced was a significant contributing factor to the crime, according to the New York State Office of Indigent Legal Services.

The law also allows people whose offenses occurred before Aug. 12, 2019, to seek post-conviction resentencing if they meet the legal requirements.

Childers is seeking relief under that provision.

Wayne County District Attorney Christine Callanan said the hearing was expected to begin Friday, with additional proceedings already scheduled for October.

Callanan said no decision on Childers’ request is expected at Friday’s hearing.