AN AMERICAN MAN who urinated on his Irish friend as he lay dying on his grandmother’s front lawn has been sentenced to jail for six months.
Liam McGlinchey, originally from Buncrana, Co. Donegal had been out celebrating passing his exams when he was left by his ‘friends’ in a dangerously intoxicated state in New York in 2017.
The young man, of Irish descent, was living with his grandmother when he died.
The 19-year-old had passed out and was reportedly foaming from the mouth when Samuel Heroux dumped him on his grandmother’s lawn and urinated on him.
Toxicology reports from his autopsy showed that Liam’s blood alcohol level was at 0.40 per cent, a level that doctors say can cause death.
Two men, Heroux (21) and Isaiah DePiazza (19) were charged with criminally negligent homicide in court yesterday.
Judge John Murphy was incensed with Heroux’s actions, saying: “Dumping Liam and urinating on him and filming the urination, seeing foam from dying Liam’s mouth - instead of doing something, you leave.
“A 911 call, a knock on the door, a drop at the hospital, a call for help would have saved his life.
“The failure to act and care about anyone but yourself, the apathy and disregard for another person’s life is your pattern of behaviour.”
Heroux was sentenced to six months in jail and five years on probation.
DePiazza was expected to get probation but was instead sentenced to 1 to 3 years in state prison for breaking his parole.
Liam was born in the US but spent many years in Donegal, where his father Liam Snr was born and raised.
Charlotte McGlinchey, Liam’s sister, said that her brother’s death had left her and her family traumatised because Liam had been left “like he was garbage”.
“I lost my brother and best friend,” she said. “Every time you inhale, I hope you feel the breaths Liam struggled to take.”
