Teen who killed musician sentenced to at least 11 years in prison

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The teenager who killed a Wilmington musician and realtor will spend at least 11 years in prison for the crime.

More than 18 months after fatally stabbing Ben Privott, 17-year-old Cory Sullivan plead guilty to second degree murder Monday. He received his sentence Tuesday morning.

“In terms of pleaing versus going to trial, that’s not a decision we make lightly. We believe you send messages. This is not simple kid stuff, this is murder and nothing less,” said New Hanover County district attorney Ben David.

Emotions ran high throughout the sentencing hearing, as loved ones of both Privott and Sullivan spoke.

The 911 call from the night of Privott’s stabbing was played for the court. In April of 2016, Privott’s fiancee, Sarah Rushing, found him lying on the ground after he never returned from walking the dog. Privott had been stabbed. A computer and cash were also stolen from him.

Rushing told the court she will live with this for the rest of her life.

“I don’t believe that anything we could have done in this courtroom, even if we had gone to a trial and a jury would have convicted him of first degree murder, it still would not have been totally satisfying, I don’t believe for Sarah,” said Charity Wilson, a New Hanover County assistant district attorney.

Privott was well known in Wilmington and his death touched many in the community.

“I’ve run into so many people who have come up to me and said, when this was unsolved, ‘this is not something where he knew the assailant, because Ben didn’t have an enemy. This had to be some random act of violence.’ And they were right about that,” said David.

Sullivan also addressed the court and told the family he couldn’t imagine the pain he caused them. His father and youth pastor also spoke of the teen’s remorse.

David commended Sullivan for accepting the plea deal.

“He came in and confessed and his dad and others deserve great amount of credit for making him do the right thing at an early stage and him doing the right thing at an early stage and then sparing this family the pain of going through a public trial and the years of endless appeals,” said David.

The judge told Sullivan to think about Privott for the rest of his life and sentenced the teen to a minimum of just over 11 years and a maximum of 15 years in prison.

Sullivan was 15 years old at the time of the murder and will receive credit for the 496 days he has already spent in jail.

He will also undergo a complete psychological evaluation.