Moments before sentencing another suspect connected to the March ambush at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, 4th District Judge Nancy Baskin told the young woman that she has a chance — one that doesn’t come often — to reinvent herself.
“This needs to be the conviction that causes you to reinvent yourself, to be different, to act different,” Baskin said, “to associate only with people who are going to move you forward versus people who are going to bring you back into the courtroom.”
Tia Garcia, one of four people tied to what police called a “brazen” and “violent” attack that freed a prisoner, broke down in tears after being sentenced to up to 25 years in prison, with eligibility for parole after 10 years. The Twin Falls resident will receive credit for the nine months she’s spent in jail.
In March, Skylar Meade, an Idaho man serving a minimum 10-year prison sentence at the state’s maximum security prison, and co-conspirator Nicholas Umphenour coordinated Meade’s escape at the Boise hospital. The incident involved gunfire and left three correctional officers injured, one of whom was mistakenly shot by a responding Boise police officer.