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A jury convicted Pinney of manslaughter on Monday. The prosecution asked for the harshest penalty possible — 18 to 20 years – but the judge handed down half that, the Hampden County District Attorney's Office said.
Pinney was accused of killing his girlfriend, TayClair Moore, in his bedroom on March 23, 2014. He called police and said he found her body, but a coroner ruled that she'd been strangled, the prosecution said. He was charged with first-degree murder and tried in 2016, but that ended in a mistrial after a judge ruled there was improper communication between two jurors.
Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni praised Moore's family for their resilience during the long and arduous legal process leading to Friday's sentencing.
TayClair’s family was forced to endure so much on their journey for justice. Their grace, resiliency, and resolve inspired me and our trial team and presented all of us with a powerful experience of the impact of violent crime and loss. I hope this verdict brings a measure of justice to TayClair and her family. I would like to thank our entire team, and especially Assistant District Attorney Matthew Green for trying this case twice and remaining unwavering in his advocacy for justice and for the victim for over nine years. While we share in the family's disappointment over the sentence, ultimately, the defendant will finally be held accountable for his crime.
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