Woman gets life in prison for murder attempt

A 21-year-old woman who tried to kill her older sister was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison with the possibility for parole.

Jessica Hinebaugh was also sentenced to 20 years for robbery and five years for identity theft for forcing her sister to purchase airline tickets for her and her boyfriend and taking the sister’s check and debit cards, which she used to withdraw cash.

Acting Circuit Judge Shirley Kawa­mura refused the prosecutor’s request to make the prison terms back to back.

Deputy City Prosecutor Scott Bell told Kawa­mura that Hine­baugh deserved an extended jail term because of the nature of her crimes and because this was not the first time she was on the wrong side of the law. Hinebaugh has a juvenile criminal record in Georgia.

The evidence included testimony from Casey Ann Jones, who said her younger sister held her down, covered her mouth and told her to be quiet while Hinebaugh’s boyfriend Michael Ayala stabbed her in her own home.

A jury found Hinebaugh and Ayala, 24, guilty of attempted murder and other crimes.

Hinebaugh appeared somber at her sentencing Tuesday, unlike when she smiled and appeared to joke with Ayala on March 6 when the jury handed down its guilty verdicts.

Her lawyer Darcia Forester said Hinebaugh intended to speak at her sentencing only if her sister showed up. Jones did not attend the hearing.

"Jessica understands that her sister may never, ever forgive her. And that’s her right. And that’s probably appropriate in light of everything that happened," Forester said.

Jones, 25, was a Schofield Barracks soldier and two months pregnant when Hinebaugh and Ayala attacked her Oct. 6, 2013. She survived a laceration to one of her kidneys and other injuries, and gave birth seven months later.

She and her husband, who was also a Schofield Barracks soldier at the time of the attack, now live on the mainland.

Forester said Hinebaugh harbored anger and resentment for Jones for leaving her to live alone with their abusive, alcoholic father when Hinebaugh was 14 years old. She said that because of Hinebaugh’s youth and immaturity, she wrongly channeled that anger to her sister, who just eight months earlier welcomed Hinebaugh to live with her and her husband.

Ayala is scheduled to face sentencing in October.