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Brooke Spencer was a hero in Gallup.

Eleven short months ago, Spencer scored the game-winning shot in the 2006 Class 5A state girls basketball championship, then returned home with her teammates for a parade and three-hour autograph session.

Within three months, she was dead.

On Tuesday, Spencer's wounded hometown showed up in force again to honor her, packing a federal courtroom in Albuquerque to hear the fate of her killer.

Phillip Notah, Spencer's 19-year-old ex-boyfriend, had confessed to stabbing her to death at her home on the Navajo Reservation on June 6. She was 18.

Notah pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison with credit for eight months already served and three years probation upon his release.

The sentence was two years short of the maximum and one more than the minimum suggested for second-degree murder.

"I was disappointed his sentence was so short," Spencer's mother, LeAnn Eskeets, said with tears brimming in her eyes. "When he gets out, he can still raise a family, go to school and have a full life. My daughter can't have that. No amount of time can bring Brooke back, but I did want to see him go to jail for longer."

The sentencing marks the end of the case, but it did little to heal the town.

Spencer's death tore a hole through a close-knit community that usually spends this time of year obsessed by the boys and girls basketball teams at Gallup High.

It was a tragedy few could have imagined a year ago, although there were subtle signs of trouble.

Spencer and Notah met at Rehoboth Christian School and both transferred to Gallup High their junior years.

She was a popular athlete who excelled in softball and basketball, bringing together friends from her old school and new one.

"Brooke was so loving and always was willing to listen to your problems," said Kyra Roanhorse, a 17-year-old who called Spencer one of her best friends. "She was a kind person who was always taking care of other people."

Those instincts kicked in with Notah, friends said. He had never had been charged with a crime before killing Spencer but suffered what a psychologist cited by the defense called "a large number of emotional losses and trauma," according to court records.

Notah's defense attorneys argued that he had watched his mother be physically abused by his stepfather during his childhood. They said Notah, whose father was white and mother was Navajo, was not accepted in the Navajo community, and that his mother struggled to pay bills and provide for the family. The attorneys said Notah was addicted to marijuana and alcohol by age 15.

According to court records:

The couple broke up and reconciled several times during their relationship, but Spencer had made it clear she no longer wanted to date Notah after she graduated from high school.

He was despondent about the loss and asked to meet her at her home the night of June 6.

Notah brought her flowers, but Spencer left them in the car after speaking with him and refusing to date him again.

He followed her to her home and pulled out a knife he had been using to puncture beer cans in order to drink alcohol faster earlier in the evening, although authorities said he was not intoxicated at the time of the stabbing.

Notah told FBI agents Spencer lunged at him, so he stabbed her in self defense. Prosecutors cited autopsy records showing Spencer was facing away from Notah as he struck her.

Spencer cried out to her mother, who helped her into a car and rushed her to a hospital. Spencer died one day later.

Notah rushed home, leaving the knife in pieces inside Spencer's home.

He confessed to his mother, then held a knife to his throat and threatened to commit suicide. Authorities used a stun gun to take him into custody.

Both families gave tearful testimony to Judge Bruce Black, with Notah hanging his head most of the time.

"I'm so sorry," Notah told the court, wiping away tears as he turned to address the gallery full of Spencer's relatives and friends.

Eskeets spoke to the judge about the night her daughter was stabbed and the potential lost with her death. Spencer had college scholarship offers and planned to be a nurse.

"Who knows how many people she could have helped," Skeet said.

The families of both Spencer and Notah left the courthouse in tears, with Notah's relatives declining to answer questions.

Spencer's mother took her time leaving the courthouse, accepting hugs from hundreds of friends and relatives wearing four different kinds of memorial T-shirts and buttons with the phrase "We miss you Brooke."

"It means a lot to me that they drove all the way from Gallup to be here with us," Eskeets said. "It shows me how much Brooke was loved and that people will never forget her."

John Lomasney, the Gallup High girls basketball coach, said the town is still picking up the pieces after Spencer's death.

"A lot of the girls on the team are still hurting a lot, and it's been very difficult for them to go on without her," he said. "She had the biggest funeral I have ever seen here in Gallup. We retired her jersey this year, and the gym was packed with people. It had been months since she died, but they were still crying as if it was yesterday."

Valerie Kast, a freshman on the University of New Mexico women's basketball team and Spencer's teammate at Gallup, said she is still haunted by Spencer's death.

"It's still so shocking," Kast said. "I miss her so much. She was like a sister to me, and it's unbelievable that she's gone."

Lomasney said Gallup High has done its part to learn from Spencer's death, bringing in guest speakers to talk about domestic violence and encourage teens to seek out help before a troubled relationship escalates to violence.

"It hurts, but I hope it means Brooke didn't die in vain," Lomasney said.

Eskeets encouraged other parents to learn from her community's pain.

"Know who your children are with and make sure it's a person you can trust," she said.

Eskeets doubts the people hurt by Spencer's death will ever feel the same again, although she said she has forced herself to forgive Notah and try her best to recover from the deep loss.

"I don't think we will ever put this behind us," she said. "We'll never get over this, we'll just learn to get through it. We'll pull together and get through it."