LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Nearly eight years after Brice Rhodes was charged with brutally murdering three people, including two teenage brothers, his case finally concluded Wednesday with a judge following a jury’s recommended sentence that he spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.

"This has been by far one of the most tragic cases I've ever been involved in," Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Julie Kaelin said during the sentencing. "It really stands out for how profoundly sad it is on every level. ... Everything about this case is horrific." 

In December, a jury deliberated for less than an hour before convicting Rhodes of the murders, one count of tampering with physical evidence, and two counts of abuse of a corpse in the shooting of Christopher Jones and brutal beating and stabbings of teenage brothers Maurice Gordon and Larry Ordway. Their bodies were burned.

The case stalled for years as Rhodes cycled through numerous attorneys, who Rhodes either refused to work with or threatened. He waited more than a year for a mental competency evaluation and the case languished through the pandemic when courts were shut down.

His bizarre outbursts in the courtroom, including threatening judges and attorneys, implying the lead prosecutor and a previous judge were having an affair and calling several court officials racists, angered family members of the victims and prompted even more publicity in the high-profile case.

On Wednesday, Kaelin told Rhodes it would be a "dishonor" not to follow the jury's recommendation and formally sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility for parole. Rhodes never said anything and quietly left the courtroom, in stark contrast to his behavior during much of the last eight years. 

Kaelin had previously ruled that while Rhodes was competent to stand trial, he was ineligible for the death penalty, finding he has a documented history of serious mental illness or intellectual disability.

Defense attorney Tom Griffiths told the judge they will appeal the guilty verdict.

Rhodes’ attorneys had acknowledged in December that jurors had found Rhodes accountable for "horrible things" done in May 2016 but argued that they should show empathy and not lock him up for life in prison without parole.

"No matter what he did on his worst days, Brice is still a human being," said defense attorney Thaisa Howorth during the jury sentencing. "I'm asking you to have just a little bit of hope with Brice," who she said has struggled with childhood abuse, bipolar disorder and intellectual disability.

However, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Elizabeth Jones Brown told jurors to consider "the horrific nature of these murders” and noted this wasn't Rhodes' first criminal convictions, pointing out he had already been found guilty of assault, burglary, robbery and other charges before the murders.

"I don't think the family (of the brothers) should ever have to go to sleep again without knowing where Brice Rhodes is," Jones Brown said.

After the sentencing on Wednesday, Jones Brown said "it was a good feeling to bring justice" to the victims and their families.

Jackie Partee, the grandmother of one of the teens, told the judge that Rhodes treated the kids “like trash. … They was very good boys.”

She says she hopes Rhodes finds God while in prison.

“God says vengeance is mine," she said. 

Debbie Wren, who is also the grandmother of one of the brothers, said she "wanted to hear that life sentence with no parole ever, so he can't hurt another child, anyone. He's evil, and he needs to be in prison."

Chastity Stoner, Christopher Jones' son's mother, told the judge her son has thrived despite Rhodes' actions. 

"What he didn't cause is for my son to lose his mind," she said. "He didn't cause my son to drop out of high school. ... He caused my son to be a 4.0 GPA student, to get an offer from the University of Louisville football team."

During the trial, Jones Brown told jurors that eyewitnesses testified that in early May 2016, they saw Rhodes kill Jones, who he believed was another man that had a bounty out for his death.

Rhodes shot Jones on May 4, 2016, on South 41st Street. A co-defendant, Anjuan Carter said he was in the passenger seat, Gordon was the "getaway driver" and Rhodes and Ordway were in the back seat when the shooting occurred. 

Jones died at the hospital.

Rhodes heard that Gordon, 16, and Ordway, 14, were telling family members about the murder, so he brought them to his home on May 22, 2016, according to testimony in the trial. 

After a brief scuffle, Gordon was tied up and a toboggan placed over his head, while Ordway was moved into a bathroom where he listened to his brother scream and "beg for forgiveness," prosecutors told the jury. 

Rhodes – and other men at the home – beat and stabbed Gordon, then rolled his body out of the way and brought Ordway in and the "the process was started over," according to the prosecution. 

The three then allegedly put the two brothers into a car and dumped them in the backyard of an abandoned house in the 400 block of River Park Drive, east of Shawnee Park, and burned the bodies. Carter testified he stayed behind and cleaned up after the murders.

Two of those men involved with the murders, teenage cousins Carter and Jacorey Taylor, cut deals for lesser sentences and testified during the trial that Rhodes was the mastermind, forcing them to take part in the killings.

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