Appeal of sentence is denied

The Indiana Court of Appeals has rejected an appeal from a Jay County man sentenced in July to 12 years in prison for causing the death of a Pennville teenager when operating a vehicle while intoxicated. 

The court ruled 3-0 last week to uphold Bryce J. Paxon’s 12-year sentence for causing death while operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content of 0.15 or more, a Level 4 felony. 

Paxson, 48, slammed his pick-up truck into a Pennville house on Oct. 30, 2015, killing 16-year-old Seth Corwin, who was sitting in the home’s living room. 

Paxson pleaded guilty to the offense and his sentence was handed down by Jay Superior Court Judge Max Ludy in July. Paxson agreed at his sentencing hearing that the sentence, which was the maximum, was appropriate.

However, Paxson appealed to the Indiana Court of Appeals, raising “whether the sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense and his character,” according to the court document. 

In the appeals court’s decision, Judge L. Mark Bailey wrote that “Paxson had not persuaded us that his sentence was inappropriate.”