Life without parole sought for man charged with killing 4

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — Prosecutors are seeking life without parole for a man charged in the killing of a woman and her three children.

Cohen Bennett Hancz-Barron, 21, of Fort Wayne, who faces four counts of murder, appeared Friday in Allen Superior Court as prosecutors requested the sentence.

The bodies of Sarah Nicole Zent, 26; her sons, Carter Matthew Zent, 5; Ashton Duwayne Zent, 3; and daughter, Aubree Christine Zent, 2, were found on June 2 in a Fort Wayne home. All four died of stab wounds, and the mother also had been strangled, the Allen County coroner said.

Hancz-Barron was arrested hours later at an apartment complex in Lafayette more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) from where the bodies were found.

Melanie Zent, Sarah Zent’s mother, said she wants Hancz-Barron to be held with the general prison population “so he feels the fear every day because my babies died afraid.”

“I need for him to fear for his life every day until he leaves this earth,” she said.

Public defender William Lebrato is listed in court records as Hancz-Barron’s attorney.