WESTBROOK – The man charged in connection with the death of a 24-year-old Westbrook man last May pleaded guilty Wednesday to aggravated assault.
According to Wendy Benson, mother of victim Eric Benson, William Googins was sentenced to the maximum of 10 years, with all but 21?2 years suspended.
“He’ll be on probation three years,” David Benson, the victim’s father, said outside the family’s Westbrook home Wednesday, just minutes after returning from the Cumberland County Courthouse.
Eric Benson died May 23, 2010, after being punched once in a confrontation in Portland’s Monument Square at 1:30 a.m. following a night out in the Old Port.
The victim’s parents said a manslaughter charge was dropped in the plea bargain.
“We know he did not mean to kill him (Eric),” Wendy Benson said. “He did mean to harm him.”
Several Benson family members and friends were in the courtroom Wednesday, but Googins appeared all alone, with just his lawyer.
“He had nobody there,” Wendy Benson said. “We had family.”
David Benson described Googins, of Gray, as somber, and he apologized to the family for the pain. “He gave the appearance of remorseful,” David Benson said.
Following the incident last year, an assistant Portland police chief said that Eric Benson had been walking with a female friend when they were confronted by Googins and two other men near 4 Monument Square, where Benson was assaulted.
The woman accompanying Benson screamed for help and a witness called 911, according to police at the time.
Benson died surrounded by family in Maine Medical Center in Portland. The Maine Medical Examiner’s Office said the death was a homicide caused by “blunt force trauma to the head.”
Portland police arrested Googins, then 20, after he turned himself in. Police said he was accompanied by family. Googins was initially charged with aggravated assault.
Portland police said the suspect had made derogatory comments on the night of the assault about the woman, who sought refuge behind Benson. Benson was punched one time in the head and he fell to the ground, according to a police report at the time.
Portland police described the incident as a random attack and as a tragic loss.
“He has to live with it,” Wendy Benson said about Googins.
A graduate of Westbrook High School in 2005, Benson was to graduate in December from the University of Maine at Farmington, where he was studying geology and chemistry.
In high school, he was a member of the marching band and played lacrosse. He was an ardent fan of the Portland Pirates hockey team.
David Benson said the court has done what it could. “We’re glad to put it behind us and move forward,” David Benson said. “We think about it a lot.”
The victim’s parents also requested that Googins receive 400 hours of community service.
“We just hope he (Googins) learns from the experience and helps other kids,” Wendy Benson said.
“Now, it’s all up to him,” she said.
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