Yancy Sentencing

An extended prison stay awaits a Webster County man charged with beating his former girlfriend so severely, she remains in a vegetative state. This may be the end of the legal fight for Ashley Chaneys family, but their battles are far from over. Even though Yancy is headed for hard time. More than a year after his pregnant girlfriend was beaten into a comatose state, Yancy was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the attack. But the legal victory is painfully hollow for Ashley Chaneys family. The events that lead to Yancys conviction began to unfold in late 2006, on a night when he and live in girlfriend Ashley Chaney had been fighting. Chaney wound up so badly beaten that she crashed her car just a few yards after pulling out of the driveway. She slipped in to a coma that she still hasnt recovered from, despite delivering a healthy baby girl in May. Yancy maintained her injuries were from the low speed crash, and not from his hands. He entered an alford plea of guilty. A plea that sends him to prison, but doesnt require he actually admit guilt. Chaney has two little boys from a previous relationship with Jeremy Oglesby, children who are also victims, though they are too young to know it. Ashley Chaneys condition remains up in the air. She has trouble communicating, and is often unresponsive. Matt Yancy has maintained his innocence to Chaneys friends, suggesting in e-mails to one friend that evidence of her beating was actually planted. Now, his lawyer actually asked for a two week continuance on the sentencing today, because Yancy apparently broke his tail bone yesterday. That was denied. The judge telling Yancy hell have time to recuperate in prison.