BANGOR, Maine — A Dover-Foxcroft man who shot his brother to death last year pleaded guilty to manslaughter Thursday morning in Penobscot County Superior Court.
Steven Mayo, 23, was sentenced to 18 years in prison with all but nine years suspended, according to Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson. Mayo will also have four years of probation.
Mayo was indicted in May 2011 for murder and depraved indifference murder, both Class A crimes, in the death of his brother, Ryan Mayo, 20. Steven Mayo pleaded not guilty to the charges last July.
“This is a tragic situation for everyone involved,” said Benson. “We appreciate Mr. Mayo standing up and taking responsibility for causing his brother’s death and not putting his family through a trial.”
According to a state police affidavit, on May 1, 2011, Steven Mayo told investigators that he returned to his French Road home from grocery shopping and found his driveway torn up from an all-terrain vehicle.
He said he walked to his brother’s home next door and began removing fuses from the vehicle, which was parked on the lawn. He told police that his brother had damaged his property before despite being told not to do so.
In addition, Mayo told police that Ryan Mayo came out of his house and began chasing him, at one point using a white metal pole to hit Steven Mayo’s truck. Ryan also allegedly hit his brother in the mouth before yelling that he was going to get a gun and “blow Steven’s brains out,” according to the affidavit.
Steven Mayo told police that he went and got his 70-year-old Russian rifle from his house and shot out the tires to his brother’s ATV. Steven Mayo told police he was carrying the rifle on one shoulder and a bag of dog food on the other when Ryan came out of his residence with a shotgun and fired it.
Steven dropped the bag of dog food and shot at his brother as Ryan was re-entering his residence. According to evidence collected later at the scene, the bullet penetrated Ryan’s front door before hitting him behind the right ear. Ryan Mayo’s body was found at the base of his front steps with his left foot on the bottom step and right foot touching the lower base of the steps.
Former BDN writer Diana Bowley and BDN writer Christopher Cousins contributed to this report.
Nine years suspended,,,,
What a farce.
Why do they do that BS? 18 years with all but 9 suspended….. just start off by saying 9 measly years……why suspend anything? 18 years should mean 18 years period he murdered his brother……good to know his brother’s life was only worth 9 years and with good behavior he’ll be out in 5 or 6 what a joke and a sad one at that.
Because the suspended prt of the sentence gets tacked on to the probation. When he gets out he’ll have the 9 hanging over his head that if he screws up he can go back to prison for the rest of the nine.
Odds are that if he screws up, he still won’t serve the other 9 years. Sad story all around.
I wish more people would understand that but sadly a lot of them do not.
Ummm it says ‘Mayo will also have four years of probation.’ post his release that doesn’t sound like 9 years tacked on to me….
Any suspended time is added back on if he breaks parole/probation. So, if after 2 years of being out he breaks probation he will serve the remaining 2 years of his probation and whatever the judge decides, up to, and including the nine years suspended. Another note is that with only 9 years he also gets 2 for 1 for good behavior. Meaning he could be out in as little as 6 years.
You mean like kill someone else?
I fully agree with you and the state cut him a deal 99.99 % chances that he would take it even though he was already a convicted felon for a class c offense i recall good job state of maine on doing your damn job next time give him the full sentence!!!
Benson is no better than Almy. They just wanna pad their Winning % and who cares if justice is actually served. This once again proves to the rest of the country that if you want to kill someone, ya gotta bring them up to Maine first cause you will get a light sentence. I dont get this one at all. He killed his brother in anger with a gun. Zach Carr killed Bobby Surles with a gun out of anger. Zach got a rightful sentence of 40 years while this guy only gets 9 years? Is this because the family doesnt want to lose their other son for most of his life? Please, someone from the courts explain where these sentences and DEALS come from because it just makes me sick.
9 years for shooting someone to death? WOW
This strikes me as a just sentence in view of the circumstances.
9 years seems about 9 years to heavy for me. The way I read it his brother was armed, threated to kill him (i am pretty sure that is what “blow Stevens brains out) means and came out of his house with a shotgun and fired it. Where? What?
My guess is little Stevie knew his brothers intent better then the DA. It’s no wonder the DA offered the deal. A jury of this guys peers would have done the same thing and he would have walked, skipped and run out of court a free man. Bad lawyer you ask me.
You may well have a point there. That’s why I said it struck me as a just sentence in view of the facts presented in the article. I was basically responding to most of the posts here looking for his head. His brother was off the deep end, and, maybe, he had faced his brother’s craziness before and just snapped. Who knows? In any event I don’t particulary disagree with your take on it. At least you’re not calling for his death.
His head? Nope. Anyone that has been faced with domestic violence before knows sometimes that best defense is a good offense. I wish Amy Lake had dusted that “estranged husband” of hers out in Dexter after he made his death threats. Reading this story it seems pretty clear the prosecution only had the timing of the shot on their side. Steven apparently knew he would end up a corpse had he not acted and I don’t doubt that. I guess Steven should have waited for his brother to actually connect with the buckshot before he fired. This sends a great message, not. The state was wrong here and a good lawyer would have proven that. Better yet, someone with money would have walked, that is clear. I feel bad for this kid. He took it like a man though, not that he should have.
finally they ended his case he should got the full 18years and i have every right to say this he did it and need to get the full sentence instead of 9 years in prison 4 yrs probation. I know him personally and was one first that knew he would get in big trouble
9 years for shooting someone to death! what a disgrace
“This is a tragic situation for everyone involved,” said Benson. “We
appreciate Mr. Mayo standing up and taking responsibility for causing
his brother’s death and not putting his family through a trial.”
tragic or not…this is a waste of our courts. if this was texas he’d be dead dead dead.
you can kill a person and only get 9 years, wow…people are goin to start doing it more often! crazy I know he got 18 and only doing 9… nice that so messed up
Right….becasue 9 years in federal prison sounds like so much fun. Exactly who would want to do that for any reason or cause?
9 years seems about 9 years to heavy for me. The way I read it his brother was armed, threated to kill him (i am pretty sure that is what “blow Stevens brains out) means and came out of his house with a shotgun and fired it. Where? What?
My guess is little Stevie knew his brothers intent better then the DA. It’s no wonder the DA offered the deal. A jury of this guys peers would have done the same thing and he would have walked, skipped and run out of court a free man. Bad lawyer you ask me.
you dont know what happened and ryan didnt have a gun in previous articles and also ryan didnt have a gun during the crime so steve should had got full 18 yrs steven isNOT INNOCIENT PERSON. HE GOT WHAT HE DESIRED FOR DOING THE CRIME. I have every right to say this because hes my cousin and i know him
definitely, I agree.
I think you need to live in Florida….
One young man dead, another forever changed by a bad choice. Condolences to their parents for the loss of two sons.
Good point. Amen.
He may have gotten 9 years behind bars but he gets the rest of his life to think about what he did…and in time we can be assured , it will wear him down …he bought himself a life sentence of sleepless nights and misery…someday his name will make the news again.
Assuming he has a conscience. “sleepless nights and misery”
Shame on all you nay sayers You do not know what happened that day you where not there and if you where than shame on you for not stoping the whole thing . Do you lossers not see that this family has been threw hell and back over this they did not just loss one child they lost two and there peace of mind to be able to walk threw this small town with out you going on here and voiceing your view of what is right and wrong. Go now and mind you own family problems for we all now you have them.
so why did u post since you dont like what people say and why dont you go now and deal with your own problems thank you and have a nice day
This was a freak accident that ended up costing us, the taxpayers, $400,000, and cost the family 2 sons.
He not only should not have been charged for defending his property (and NOT for the first time!), he should have received restitution to repair his driveway.