Former medical marijuana grower Kent Hyne will spend the next seven to 15 years in prison for killing a man who trespassed on his grow operation then burned his body in an attempt to conceal the man’s death.
Washtenaw County Trial Judge Darlene O’Brien sentenced Hyne to serve 7-15 years in prison Aug. 17, weeks after jurors found him guilty of manslaughter, felony firearms, concealing the death of an individual and disinterment and mutilation of a dead body.
Hyne, 61, was convicted of fatally shooting Kyle Luark, 27, in February 2020 and partially burning the former Redford resident at Hyne’s home next to his business.
Hyne told police he shot Luark in self defense during an altercation.
“The callous disregard for (Luark’s) humanity and the way his body was treated was nothing short of horrific,” O’Brien said. “This did not need to happen. There were so many opportunities to step back, to call police, to stay in your home and observe what was happening on the cameras, to report it and, if need be, suffer the loss of some property.”
The case stems from an incident on Feb. 26, 2020, after Luark’s mother called police to report being shot at while looking for her son, who had been missing since the previous day, police said. His last known location, the mother told police, was Hyne’s home in the 4000 block of Waters Road in Lodi Township, southwest of Ann Arbor.
“He was murdered and burned like he was nothing,” Luark’s mother, Alice Turner said. “(Hyne) hunted him down, shot him in the back and burned his body like he was garbage.”
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