Bloomfield woman sentenced to 10 years for attempted murder

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A Bloomfield, Mo., woman charged in connection with a March 2008 beating was sentenced to 10 years in prison Tuesday.

Erica Cain, 23, pleaded guilty to the Class B felony of attempted murder in the second degree in December and has been awaiting sentencing.

Heard before Judge Mark Lee Richardson, a sentencing assessment report filed with the court recommended a sentence of six to eight years.

Richardson overruled the assessment handing down a sentence of 10 years.

Three others were charged in connection with this crime.

Frank Morris of Dexter, Joshua Holderfield of Bloomfield and Shane Talley of Bloomfield were all charged with the Class A felony of attempted murder and the unclassified felony of armed criminal action.

Morris, who recently pleaded guilty, is currently awaiting sentencing.

Holderfield is currently imprisoned on an unrelated charge and has an appearance scheduled for March 10 in a New Madrid County courtroom before Judge Fred W. Copeland.

Talley is awaiting trial scheduled for April 29 before Judge Richardson in a Butler County court.

According to Cain's statement given to police, the four visited the Viking's Club in Dexter where they met up with the victim. Cain said that the victim left the bar with all four of the accused.

Morris stated that they then went back to his house for a while. "He said when they started to leave [the house] Erica said she was going to beat up [the victim] because she had put Mike Walker in prison," the statement filed by Hank Trout said in regard to the suspect's interviews.

"Frank said as Erica was driving, he told her he needed to use the bathroom. Frank said Erica told him when he got out of the car to leave his door open. Frank said Erica got out, came around the car and started to get [the victim] out of the car. Frank said [the victim] started kicking at Erica, so Erica dragged her out and they rolled into the ditch. He said Erica was attacking her by hitting and kicking her.

"Frank said Josh also hit [the victim] several times. Frank said he hit [the victim] once in the back of the head and may have pushed her down. Frank said Erica threw her into the ditch and continued to hit her. Frank then stated that Erica had hit [the victim] with the car, they stopped and he and Erica got out of the car and moved her from the ditch to the road.

The statement goes on to say that after that they all went home and that Morris suggested he and Cain go back out and check on the victim where they then picked her up and drove her to her Dexter home.

In Holderfield's statement he said that he thought they attacked the victim because she "got Mike Walker in trouble and Frank is Mike's half-brother."

Nowhere in the statement is there any admission of Talley having assaulted the girl and Holderfield claims that he only got out of the car to "get Frank and Erica off of the girl."

Michael Eugene Walker was sentenced to five years of supervised probation in the Sept. 2007 restraint and rape of a Dexter woman. Shortly thereafter he was arrested in northern Missouri and sentenced to serve his three year prison term.

Each faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 30 years to life.