STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Erath County District Court Judge Jason Cashon sentenced Eddie Ray Routh to life in prison without the possibility of parole, then turned the floor over to the families of the two men the defendant had just been found guilty of murdering.
Relatives of “American Sniper” Chris Kyle did not speak, but the brother and father of victim Chad Littlefield wanted to have their say. Each stood to somberly and sternly address Routh.
“You took the lives of two heroes — men who tried to be a friend to you,” said Jerry Richardson, Littlefield's brother. “You became an American disgrace.”
Routh, a former Marine and Iraq war veteran, shot the men several times while at a gun range on Feb. 2, 2013. Kyle, a former Navy SEAL and the deadliest sniper in American military history, often took fellow veterans to the shooting range as a form of therapy. Littlefield, 35, did not serve in the military, but often volunteered his time to help veterans, his family said.
During the two-week trial, the defense team tried to convince the jury that mental illness and post-traumatic stress disorder triggered Routh to turn on Kyle and Littlefield.
