TEEN HEARS SENTENCE IN DRUG DEATH

Ashley Nevin's parents said there is no punishment that can change the pain
they feel because a man injected their daughter with a lethal dose of heroin.

"We were sentenced to life, without any chance of ever seeing our beautiful
Ashley again," cried her mother, Mary Nevin, in Livingston County Court on
Tuesday.

Ashley's boyfriend, Trevor Dalton, was sentenced Tuesday to 1 1/3 to 4
years in prison for buying heroin for her and helping her inject it.
Ashley, 17, a senior at Avon High School, died of a heroin overdose on Nov.
12, investigators determined.

Instead of serving the prison term, Judge Ronald Cicoria recommended that
Dalton go to a state shock camp, a six-month military style program aimed
at ending addiction.

Dalton's mother, Lori Meath, said outside the courtroom that Dalton loved
Ashley and hopefully shock camp will straighten out his life. Maybe the
highly publicized case that saddened the tight-knit community can be a
wake-up call for parents and other teenage drug users, Meath said.

"Our goal is to make a change in him," she said, holding back tears. "I
still don't know what we could have done differently."

Dalton, 18, pleaded guilty in January to criminally negligent homicide. He
has been in Livingston County jail since the incident.

During the court hearing, Ashley's parents suggested Dalton took advantage
of Ashley's recent bout with depression and lured her into using drugs as
an outlet for her problems.

"It was during this time that I believe Trevor, for whatever other
self-serving motives he may have had, suggested heroin to help relieve the
terrible emptiness caused by the depression," said her father, William Nevin.

Public Defender Marcea Clark said Dalton is a good person and did not
intend to kill Ashley.

Ashley's family questioned Dalton's claims that the couple had been
experimenting with heroin for several months. Mary Nevin said drug tests
indicate that Ashley died from a small amount of heroin, not consistent
with somebody who was a regular user.

Sentencing was originally scheduled Feb. 26 but was delayed when a final
autopsy report found a smaller amount of drugs in her system than
originally believed.

Dalton, who refused comment in the courtroom, admitted to police that he
helped Ashley buy and inject heroin hours before her death. According to
his police statement, Dalton said the couple drove to Rochester on Nov. 11,
and he bought $15 worth of heroin for her.

Ashley shot up a few times that day but felt sick before she fell asleep
early the next morning, his statement says. Dalton found her dead at about
noon that day.

"As a family, we struggle every day with our lives without her," Mary Nevin
said. "There will be a hole in the hearts of my family forever."