T-R PHOTOS BY LANA BRADSTREAM Ilias Lasley and his attorney David Newkirk listen to victim impact statements at his sentencing hearing for second-degree murder. He will serve at least 35 years in prison.

At the end of a hearing held on Friday at the Marshall County Courthouse, Ilias Lasley was sentenced to serve at least 35 years in prison.

County Attorney Jordan Gaffney said Lasley’s sentences will run concurrently, making 50 the total number of years he could spend in prison.

The sentencing for his conviction for the second-degree murder of Frances Gasca and two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm began with a statement from Lasley, which was read by his attorney Christine Branstad.

“First and foremost, I would like to apologize to Frances’ and Mario’s families for prolonging their pain and suffering of them not knowing what happened by me waiting so long to tell the truth,” she read. “. . . I’m sorry for the things I did that day, and I’m sorry for their loss.”

Lasley’s statement also gave an apology to members of the jury for seeing and hearing about what happened in April 2024 when Gasca and Mario Murillo, both of Marshalltown, were each shot seven times. He apologized to his family and his children for succumbing to his methamphetamine addiction, and not being the son and father he knew they needed him to be.

After Lasley’s statement was read and his defense attorneys and the prosecutors gave Judge Bethany Currie their sentence recommendations, people affected by Lasley’s actions that day read emotional victim impact statements. Not only did the victims shed tears over their words for the court and Lasley, but audible crying was heard amongst the people in the packed Marshall County Courtroom.

Gasca’s oldest daughter, Krystal Stanley, was the first to read, and she told Lasley she forgave him for killing her mother even though he caused her to experience undeniable pain.

“I forgive you not because you deserve it and not because justice doesn’t matter,” she told him. “I forgive you because I refuse to let hatred control the rest of my life.”

She said the hardest part of losing her mother is forgiving herself for not stepping in or asking other family members to step in when she knew Gasca was surrounding herself with bad people.

“My faith has become my foundation,” Stanley said. “It has been my anchor for every birthday, every holiday and every moment with her being gone. Forgiveness is not pretending nothing happened or excusing evil. . . . The Bible teaches if I ask Jesus to forgive, I must also be willing to forgive those who have sinned against me.”

Stanley described Gasca as being “full of life” and said she would give anything for one more moment with her mother.

Before he was sentenced, a hearing was held to determine whether or not Lasley would be granted a request for a new trial after his attorneys filed it at the beginning of the week, arguing that Lasley did not receive a fair and impartial trial because of inconsistent verdicts, lack of evidence proving malice and forethought and evidence proving Lasley was not the only shooter.

“An impartial jury decided his guilt or innocence exclusively on the evidence in the trial. The court finds no errors and finds Mr. Lasley is not entitled to a new trial,” Currie said.

Lasley was originally charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Gasca and Murillo. A jury acquitted Lasley of the murder of Murillo and reduced the other charge to second-degree for Gasca.

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.