Two local residents were sentenced to years in prison today by 50th Circuit Court Judge James P Lambros for crimes committed in the area years ago.
Tyler Thomas Delong from Sault Ste. Marie was sentenced to30 years in prison today on charges of assault with intent to murder, first-degree criminal sexual conduct and unlawful imprisonment stemming from a 2019 assault on two people. He will be eligible to see a parole board after 18 years and 6 months
A jury convicted Tyler Delong on March 14 of sexually assaulting a woman and stabbing a man in the head during the Aug. 2, 2019 incident. Both victims in the case took the stand, but they have not been publicly identified.
Delong was accused of sexually assaulting the female victim and then beating her during the attack. When the male victim attempted to rescue her, Delong then attacked him, stabbing him and lodging the knife blade in the man’s skull.
Both victims were transported to a nearby hospital for treatment where the knife was safely removed from the man’s skull. The male victim has since recovered from the attack, according to Stratton.
Jacob Russell Mckerchie from Sault Ste Marie was sentenced to 50 years in prison by Judge James Lambros of Second Degree Murder in the August 10, 2021 slaying of 27-year-old Hayley Smith. He will be eligible to see a parole board after 22 years and 6 months
Hayley Smith died after she suffered a severe laceration to her throat during an incident around 9:50 p.m. August 10, 2021 at a house on the 800 block of Minneapolis Street in the Upper Peninsula’s Sault Ste. Marie.
That evening, the Sault Ste. Marie Police Department arrested Jacob Russell Mckerchie, 28, of Sault Ste. Marie, a couple blocks from the scene; they had been informed a male suspect had fled. Upon his arrest, Mckerchie was also found to have lacerations and was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Chief Bierling stated “Sault PD will continue to do its part to ensure that those who choose to commit heinous and evil crimes in our community are brought to tough, swift, and merciless justice”.
Chippewa County Prosecutor Stratton stated, “We are seeing a significant upswing in violent crime since the pandemic began. My office will continue to prioritize getting violent offenders off the streets, and bringing them to justice. There is nothing in this world worse than losing a child. Mr. Mckerchie took someone’s child from them, and Mr. Delong very nearly succeeded in doing the same thing. These men needed to be punished and removed from society and today, that happened.”
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