'Wicked, depraved, torturous and excessively cruel': 2 sentenced in Kent County murder

The man that tortured, killed and buried the body of 41-year-old Jennifer Leyanna in 2020 was sentenced to 65 years in prison Wednesday, while Kent County Superior Court Judge Reneta Green-Streett sentenced the woman who helped him to 25 years.

On Oct. 10, 2020, in the bathtub of a home on Route 8 in western Kent County, a drug-fueled Leonard “Buddy” Church restrained, beat and otherwise tortured Leyanna, court records say. It was his birthday.

Leyanna’s autopsy found she died of multiple injuries. Her airway was obstructed by foreign objects, court documents say. She suffered numerous broken ribs and other blunt force injuries to her torso and head. Her hyoid bone was broken by a belt placed around her neck, the medical examiner’s office found.

“This has been one of the most traumatic experiences a person can endure,” Leyanna’s mother said in an impact statement. "When death occurs at the hands of another human being, especially in the manner which you took my daughter's life, there never really is closure, just more questions."

Church was aided by Esther Wright (formerly known as Esther Hurtado-Chavez), of Clayton, court documents say, who retrieved tape for him to restrain Leyanna and helped him bury her body in his Henderson, Maryland, backyard.

For over a year, Leyanna’s family didn’t know what happened to her. Her daughter, Natalie Dehorty, said her 20th birthday was the first birthday her mother had ever missed.

“I deeply knew something was wrong, and I spent 16 months wondering where she was,” she wrote in an impact statement.

When police found Leyanna’s body in February 2022, her daughter’s worst fears came true.

Background: She died bound in a bathtub in Delaware. Her body was found months later, buried in Md.

The case

Leyanna had struggled with substance abuse since her late teens or early 20s, according to her lifelong friend, Angie Bowen. She had gone missing before, but always contacted her mother or daughter after a week or two. When that didn’t happen, the family made a police report and Bowen started a "Find Jennifer Leyanna" Facebook group.

The police investigation found Leyanna was last seen at Church and Wright’s residence, court documents say, where a witness claimed to have seen her being beaten while bound in the bathtub. A search warrant found her blood in that bathtub, according to court documents.

Police questioned Church and Wright numerous times, their warrants say, but they did not provide truthful information and Leyanna remained missing.

The case finally broke in 2022, after Wright told someone where the body was and they told police, court documents say. As they dug up Church’s yard on Feb. 16, police took both suspects into custody and questioned them separately, according to court documents. Wright told them Church beat Leyanna to death because he believed she took his wallet, court documents say, and admitted to helping bury her.

When police asked Church about the wallet, he “became highly agitated and said it was a 'crime of passion'" before clamming up, his warrant says.

Both Wright and Church were arrested and the long and arduous court process began. After at least one court date at which Church refused to speak, court records say, both he and Wright accepted plea deals. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and she to kidnapping and conspiracy.

‘He was a monster that day’

Church, now 43, was sentenced first on Wednesday. He and Wright, now 41, have been ordered to have no contact.

Bowen read statements from Leyanna's family members, and Dehorty’s statement revealed that Leyanna and Church were in a relationship years ago.

“My mother was nowhere near perfect, but she was mine. She would do anything for me. She was my best friend. You took that from me,” Dehorty said.

Leyanna’s father died just months before she went missing.

More: Delaware Attorney General's Office demands monitoring reports for $250M opioid fund

“I barely had energy and motivation to get out of bed, still feeling the pain of losing my husband, and then I had to bear the weight of not knowing if my daughter was ever going to come home,” Leyanna’s mother wrote. She suffered nightmares and panic attacks, she said.

Deputy Attorney General Kevin Smith argued for the maximum punishment of life in prison for Church. The minimum sentence Church was facing was 15 years.

“The defendant brutally murdered a woman. He did so slowly. He did so in a manner that involved torture, and in a manner that inflicted maximum terror and pain,” Smith said.

Church’s lawyer was Patrick Collins, the self-described “veteran murder defense attorney.” He pointed out that Church had a bad childhood, that he had been abusing drugs and alcohol since his early teens and that Leyanna’s murder was his first violent crime.

“If he was not high on mind-altering, crazy-making meth and PCP, this would not have happened,” Collins said. “He was a monster that day. He was a monster on serious, hardcore, mind-altering drugs.”

He urged the judge to sentence Church to the minimum of 15 years.

Then Church himself spoke, shackled and in a Department of Corrections uniform.

“I stand before you all as a sinner,” he said. “I’ve taken a life without weighing out the outcome and the effects, causing pain and lost memories to the Leyannas … I’m sorry.” He went on to say the murder would never have happened if he hadn’t taken PCP.

Because Church wasn't arrested immediately after the murder, there was no blood test to prove whether he was actually on drugs nor, if he was, which drugs those were.

Before sentencing Church, Judge Green-Streett spoke to Leyanna’s family.

“This court cannot imagine, on any level, the pain, grief, loss, anger and deep devastation that your family has gone through and continues to go through,” she said. “What was done to Ms. Leyanna was wicked, depraved, tortuous and excessively cruel.”

The judge sentenced Church to 90 years in prison, suspended at 65 years – effectively life in prison for a 43-year-old.

Background: Remains found in Maryland backyard identified as Delaware woman missing since 2020

'She, too, was a victim'

Wright came next. Unlike Church, Leyanna’s family did not know her. Leyanna's mother’s impact statement called Wright a “cold-hearted monster.”

She faced up a minimum of two years and up to 30 years in prison for her charges. Smith recommended 20.

“We cannot know whether she has admitted to her full involvement,” he said.

He also said there was “no doubt” Wright felt threatened by Church before, during and after the incident, which Wright’s attorney, Alicia Porter, spoke to as well.

“She, too, was a victim of Mr. Church. She was subject to multiple violent incidents involving him,” Porter said.

It wasn’t until police had them both in custody and that Wright felt safe, Porter said, to tell police where the body was. She argued Wright's time served was sufficient punishment.

Wright, also shackled and in a DOC uniform, spoke quietly to the judge.

“I just want to say how truly sorry I am. If I could go back in time and switch places, I would,” she said.

As the judge sentenced her to 25 years in prison, tears flowed on both sides of the courtroom.

Shannon Marvel McNaught reports on southern Delaware and beyond. Reach her at smcnaught@gannett.com or on Twitter @MarvelMcNaught.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: 'Wicked, depraved, torturous and excessively cruel': 2 sentenced in Kent County murder