Van Terry Lunges At Daughter’s Killer, Michael Madison, During Sentencing Hearing

Van Terry, overcome with grief, lunged at Michael Madison, the man who killed his teenage daughter, before he received the death penalty for her murder.

Father Lunges At Daughter’s Killer

In a Cleveland courtroom on Thursday, Madison, who was already convicted of killing 18-year-old Shirelida Terry and two other women, sat before a judge to learn whether or not she would accept a jury’s recommendation that he be sentenced to death. During the sentencing hearing, Van Terry was among the surviving relatives of the slain to give a statement.

While Terry was speaking, he looked over at Madison, who was grinning. With his daughter’s killer smiling at him while recounting the horror of losing her, Terry was unable to keep his composure. Before Terry could reach Madison, who continued to smile throughout the incident, he was restrained by sheriff’s deputies.

“When I first went up there I was okay,” he told Fox8. “I was thinking about how he mutilated my child, how you cut my child, and you did all this while my child was still alive so you caused my baby great pain. I don’t know if I thought about leaping or thought about what have you, I just know I wanted him.”

As of yet, it is unknown if prosecutors plan to charge Terry for the courtroom incident. However, if they do, Terry will not have any regrets for his emotional reaction.

“I call it a father feeling his pain,” he told Fox8.  “And if I do get charged I’m alright with that because I did what was right.”

Following all of the statements from both the defense and the prosecution, Judge Nancy McDonnell ruled that Madison be sentenced to death. Incidentally, Terry had hoped that he be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“Release him inside the [prison] population and let him deal with it every day of his life,” he told ABC5 in 2013. “That’s what I think; I think he should suffer like we suffered.”