Witnesses Relate Aftermath Of Violence Sentencing Hearing Begins For Stephen Cherry, Convicted Of First-Degree Murder In June

Images of her roommate being gunned down by a jealous ex-boyfriend still haunt Tammy Hoover and have left her afraid to be alone.

Anxiety often overcomes Hoover when she drives by herself or stays home alone, she testified Thursday during a sentencing hearing for Stephen A. Cherry. He was convicted in June of first-degree murder.

“I don’t feel safe anywhere anymore,” Hoover said. “I don’t sleep a whole lot at night, and when I do, I have nightmares.”

Cherry, 47, faces the death penalty for shooting Susan Foutz, 42, three times with a high-powered rifle in front of her Hauser Lake home. A jury also found him guilty of wounding Charles Babb, 40, the man staying with Foutz that night, and chasing Hoover from the house.

“I’m afraid somebody’s going to come in,” said Hoover, one of eight of Foutz’s friends and family members who testified Thursday. “And I see Susan’s face all the time.”

Babb, who was wounded in the left elbow during the June 1996 attack, testified briefly about financial and physical impacts the shooting had on his life, and addressed Cherry before leaving the stand.

“I just hope you go to hell,” Babb said.

First District Judge James Judd can send Cherry to prison for life or sentence him to death.

Psychologist Craig Beaver said Cherry has a “severe borderline personality disorder,” and has not accepted responsibility for the shooting. Beaver said Cherry could be a danger if he returns to an unstable relationship with a woman.

Cherry’s on-again, off-again relationship with Foutz contributed to his rage leading up to the shooting, Beaver said.

“I’d have a lot of concerns about Stephen Cherry ever being out in the community again,” Beaver said.

Cherry’s ex-wife and a former girlfriend each remembered being threatened when ending relationships with him. Debbie Connery, 47, of Spokane, called the man she married and divorced twice controlling and abusive.

“He wanted to know who I was with, where I went,” Connery said. “He wanted to know every detail of my day. If I said something that didn’t please him or he didn’t like, he’d just backhand me out of the blue,” Connery said.

Pauline Fissler said Cherry also beat her during the two years the two dated and threatened her when the relationship ended.

“If I can’t have you no one will,” Cherry told her, Fissler said.

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