Limestone County District Attorney Brian Jones and his team recommended Tuesday to Circuit Judge Chad Wise that Mason Sisk, a convicted murderer of five family members, be given life in prison without the chance of parole.

Sisk, 18, was convicted in April of four counts of capital murder in the Sept. 2, 2019, shooting deaths of his father, John Sisk; stepmother, Mary Prater Sisk; and half-siblings, Cain Sisk, 6 and Aurora “Rory” Sisk, 4; and 6-month-old Colson Sisk as they lay sleeping in their beds.

Wise said given that Sisk was just 14 at the time of the killings, he is not eligible for the death sentence.

“There are two possible sentences and those are life without parole and life with the possibility of parole after 30 years,” said Wise. The judge said he would not pronounce sentencing Tuesday, but would take under consideration what is termed the “balancing act” before making his decision.

The “balancing act” includes Sisk’s juvenile age, immaturity, failure to realize the consequences of his actions, emotional development, past exposure to violence, mental health and history of aggravating or mitigating circumstances.

Wise approved a motion by Jones to readmit all evidence presented in the April capital murder trial.

Jones led Tuesday by calling for victims’ impact statements to be read. Kristin King, who was at the time a sheriff’s department investigator and called to the scene the night of the murders, said she “witnessed events that would affect me all of my life.”

“It’s hard to describe,” she said. “There were the kids’ backpacks lines up for school the next day when they would never attend school. Rory’s body was covered by a little pink princess blanket, Cain’s Legos were lined up on the edge of his bed covered in his own blood and the baby was lying in bed with his mother who held him as a nursing child. These are sights that will haunt me the rest of my life and I will never forget the looks of on my fellow officers’ faces that night as we stood silent vigil.

“Mason not only ended their lives, he took away all potential of their lives.”

Jones read the impact statement submitted by another responding deputy, Rhett McNatt, in which he said that after having served as a sheriff’s deputy for 20 years he thought that he had “experienced every emotion possible. I didn’t need to review the my body camera images, it wasn’t necessary. This changed the lives of all of the first responders, to see innocent children killed. They will never get to experience their first kiss, getting married and having children of their own. It was a helpless feeling not to be able to help these children.”

Responder Justin Fields said the sights of that night “changed his life. He showed no remorse. He is a sick monster. No one on the scene will ever forget. I hope I never see anything like that again.”

Douglas Prater, brother to the late Mary Sisk and who lives in Spain, read a lengthy, heart-wrenching statement, saying his mother, the late Denise Prater, was Mason’s nanny and strongest supporter. She had fought in opposition to the rest of her family for Mason to be eventually buried in the same cemetery plot as the family members he had murdered. “You was the sixth victim of your actions,” said Prater. “If you bring something positive in this world maybe you can spend the next … to your family. … If you choose to do nothing, your life is no different than your death.”

Moving impact statements were also read from Mary’s two sisters.

Defense attorneys Michael Sizemore and Shay Golden called Mason’s girlfriend, Lola Holliday, to the stand, who said she never saw any violence in Mason. Lola’s father, Charles Holliday, who himself served time in prison for manslaughter and three counts of first-degree assault, predicted a dire outcome for Mason if he is imprisoned in the “gen pop” (general population).

He said that once convicts get off the bus, they are greeted by coffee and honey buns, but those hardened criminals already confined will be taking bids on who will “own” him and all that entails in a prison environment.

An aunt of Mason, Amanda Rivera-Brigido, sister of the late John Sisk, detailed abuse and neglect that Mason as an infant and toddler suffered at the hands of his late drug-addicted birth mother, Chorine Sisk.

Testimony was ongoing as of press time and will be continued at enewscourier.com and in print.