Lancaster Woman Gets 27 Years to Life in Man’s Death

A Lancaster woman was sentenced Friday to 27 years to life in prison for murdering a construction worker she claimed gave her teen-age daughter drugs.

Lancaster Superior Court Judge Margaret Grignon imposed the mandatory sentence of 25 years to life on Belita Fox, adding two years because Fox used a gun in the murder last August of Kevin Furman, 26.

Fox, 41, will serve about 18 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole, her lawyer said.

Fox admitted shooting Furman five times after storming into his bedroom in a small house in Lancaster where young people often gathered. Her case attracted wide attention because she said she confronted Furman, believing he was giving drugs to her runaway 17-year-old daughter, then shot him when he made a threatening move. The girl was not at the house at the time.

During Fox’s trial on a first- degree murder charge last month, however, evidence showed that Furman was shot as he lay on his back in bed. And although a witness testified that Furman used drugs and sold methamphetamine on two occasions, there was no evidence that he gave drugs to Fox’s daughter Cheryl Wilson, who was his girlfriend’s cousin.

Fox’s lawyer, Vincent Oliver, said he expected the sentence because it was extremely unlikely that Grignon would place Fox on probation, the only other sentencing option. Oliver said he would appeal but had not yet decided on what to base the appeal.

In a brief statement to Grignon, Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Foltz characterized Fox as a dangerous woman who irrationally targeted Furman because her family life was disintegrating.

“She struck out in a way that our society cannot tolerate,” Foltz said. “I don’t feel the defendant has done anything to justify sympathy.”

About 30 of Furman’s friends and relatives attended the hearing, wearing “Justice for Kevin” T-shirts and buttons that were part of a campaign to clear Furman of Fox’s allegations that he was a drug dealer.

“My son did nothing wrong,” said Jean Harmon, Furman’s mother. “He was a human being. She stole his future from him because of screwed-up ideas in her head.”

Cheryl Wilson--who is now 18 and lives with friends in the Antelope Valley area, according to acquaintances--did not attend the trial. Her sister, 21-year-old Christy Wilson, said Furman was not blameless.

“He was no saint,” she said in an interview. “My mother was no saint either. I don’t believe what she did was right. But she’s my mother, and I love her.”