Mental illness cited in slaying case sentencing

By the time he turned 18, Ryan Layman's mental illness began to manifest itself.

As a child he was funny and loved sports, Layman's mother, Tamra French, recalled. He collected baseball cards and had aspirations to go to the Naval Academy.

But as he reached adulthood his "mind plummeted," French said.

Layman felt "damaged" and "abnormal." Over a three-year period, he tried to kill himself seven times, she said.

After a series of incorrect diagnoses that ranged from bipolar to post-traumatic stress disorder, Layman was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

"I tried just about everything, every resource I know that was available," French said. But she could find no long-term mental health care facility in the state available to him.

On July 2, 2005, Layman, who was living alone at the time, killed a transient he believed was trying to beat and rob him.

Thursday in District Judge Jackie Glass' courtroom, the 24-year-old was sentenced to 10 years to life in prison for killing Gilbert Archuleta.

Glass, who presides over the Clark County Mental Health Court, called the case tragic because Layman didn't receive the mental health care he needed.

At 17, Layman was the victim of repeated sexual assaults by a female guard while incarcerated at the Summit View Youth Correctional Center between November 2000 and January 2001. The corrections officer, Jennifer Burkley, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in sexual relations with a prisoner and was honorably discharged from probation for the gross misdemeanor in October 2003.

French said Layman went to Summit View because he had smoked pot, didn't follow the juvenile judge's sentencing requirements for community service and missed a court appearance.

Layman filed a federal lawsuit against the officer seeking money to help pay for his mental health care. Attorneys for Youth Services International, which operated the now-closed facility, stated in their motion to dismiss that their neuropsychologist found Layman's psychological problems were related to severe drug abuse and not the sexual assault.

The case was dismissed last year.

French said she stopped pursuing the lawsuit because she was preoccupied with her son's homicide case and his well-being while in jail.

French and Layman's defense attorney, Andrea Luem, hoped Layman would receive a prison term of 10 to 25 years. That way, he would have hope of being paroled.

Both said that Layman needs continual mental health treatment and that the prison is not going to help him get better.

"Ryan is not a criminal. He is a tragically ill young man who should be in a hospital," French said in a letter to the judge.

While awaiting trial, Layman was declared incompetent and held for about a year at Lake's Crossing, the state's mental health facility for offenders, until he was found mentally fit for trial.

Luem said Layman was a different man during his stay at Lake's Crossing than he is in jail.

Although he receives his regular medication at the Clark County Detention Center, at Lake's Crossing Layman "was happier, animated, talking, eating, which he doesn't do here," Luem said.

After the sentencing, French was wondering what she could have done to change Layman's fate.

"I wish I could have done something else," she said.

After enduring years of strain from caring for Layman, French decided to move him to an apartment near Ogden Avenue and Maryland Parkway in June 2005. She visited often to cook and clean and spend time with him, she said.

In a letter she wrote to Glass, French said she believed the apartment would be good for Layman and her family as a "short-term Band-Aid to our problems. I told myself down the road I could find something better. The emotional demand and strain of caring for someone with mental illness is very hard."

But she became concerned when Layman enthusiastically introduced her to his new friend, 26-year-old Archuleta.

French said Archuleta did drugs in Layman's apartment and she saw him leave one day with some of the baseball cards that her son had been collecting since the age of 5.

Concerned about Archuleta, who also went by the name Moses, she and the rest of the family on July 1, 2005, asked Layman to move back home.

Layman said he had planned to spend time with Archuleta that weekend and would return home afterward.

The next day, Archuleta was killed. According to the coroner, he died of blunt force trauma to the head and asphyxiation.

"This was a situation where the victim suffered extensively," prosecutor Summer Tanasi said as she argued for the 10 years to life sentence.

Witnesses called police when they saw Layman drag Archuleta's body across the street. Tanasi attributed the act to "showing the consciousness of guilt."

French said she picked up her son to take him home on July 2.

"Ryan was crying hysterically. He told me he begged Moses to stop hitting him," French wrote in the letter to the judge.

But Moses told Layman he was going to beat him and take his things, French said.

Luem said that Layman acted in self-defense and that he dragged the body out of the apartment and tried to clean up the murder scene because he was suffering from delusions.

"Mr. Layman started hearing voices," she said. "He was confused. He was scared."

In court, Layman apologized for the killing and said he thinks about Archuleta every day.

"When I struck him, I was trying to knock him out, and I wasn't trying to kill him," he said. "I did kill him, and the blood is on my hands."

Glass told Layman, "I have no doubt" his remorse was sincere. The judge said it is difficult for parents to care for mentally ill children.

"None of this should be blamed on you, if you are feeling that way," she told French.

But, Glass said, Layman needs to be supervised. The 10-year to life sentence is for his own good, she said.

"Hopefully, you'll make parole," Glass told Layman. "But when you get out of prison, make sure you get the mental health help you need."