BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Matthew Queen was sentenced to 30 years to life, plus 56 years, on Tuesday in his connection to the murder of Micah Holsonbake, one of the "Bakersfield 3."
In May, Matthew Queen was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Holsonbake. He was acquitted of first-degree murder.
Queen faced 35 counts. He was found guilty of terrorizing Megan Farmer, felony burglary, felony kidnapping in the case of Caleb Seiler, and multiple counts of possession of firearms by a felon, and multiple accounts of felony manufacturing, distributing or transporting assault weapons.
He was found not guilty of torturing and kidnapping Holsonbake, as well as not guilty of multiple assault charges.
It was an emotional experience in the courtroom Tuesday. The parents and loved ones of Micah Holsonbake were at the end of an over 4-year journey to seek justice for their son.
“Whatever justice you can get in this world, I think we got it. Well, Micah got it,” said Lance Holsonbake, Micah's father.
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Lance and Cheryl Holsonbake, the parents of Micah, expressed that they’ve been looking forward to this day for years and can finally rest knowing that justice has been served.
“It is both a surreal and devastating experience. Over and over our family has been traumatized for more than 4 years before we even sat here listening to the evidence," says Cheryl. "The mental and emotional toll on us, his immediate family, and his brother's family, has been awful.”
Queen was sentenced to 30 years to life plus 56 years on Tuesday morning, which prosecutor Eric Smith says he thinks is appropriate given all of what was heard in the trial.
“Obviously, there's a lot of different counts against Mr. Queen. Most notably of course the murder count but based on what he did in 2017 through 2019, it is an appropriate sentence.”
The parents of Micah Holsonbake add that they are glad they don’t have to worry about another hearing date and are hopeful no one else will have to go through such a tragedy.
“The facts are so horrible what had happened to him," said Lance. "You just can't camp there. It has a big enough impact on us internally in other ways already so we have to work around that.”
At a briefing held by the Kern County District Attorney’s Office after the verdict in May, Prosecutor Eric Smith said there is still in a warrant in the system for Baylee Despot’s arrest. Despot, who is still missing, was also charged in Holsonbake’s death.
