A Hamilton Township man wants out of prison and his attorney Wednesday asked a judge for judicial release, but one of the victims told the judge she wants Daniel “Buck” Blankenship to stay where he is.

The judge has yet to rule on the matter.

Blankenship, of 1398 Old U.S. 52, Ironton, has served a little more than three years of a six-year sentence for conviction on two felonious assault charges stemming from a 2003 shooting near his home that left Brenda Terry and her son, Michael, injured.

His attorney, Mark McCown, told Lawrence County Common Pleas Judge Richard Walton that Blankenship has made the most of his time behind bars, taking adult education classes and staying out of trouble.

“He’s outgoing,” McCown said. “The fact of the matter is, he has not had one single disciplinary action. He is considered a model inmate.”

But Brenda Terry told Walton that Blankenship does not deserve to be released early.

She said she and her son still live daily with reminders of what happened and her son still suffers from debilitating medical ailments stemming from the shootings.

Michael Terry, she said, had earned football scholarships before he was shot. But since he still has one bullet inside of him that doctors can’t remove, he is unable to engage in any strenuous activity and that includes any jobs that require lifting. Both of them also suffer mentally, she said.

“Why should he get any mercy? He didn’t show us any mercy?” Terry asked Walton.

Walton said he would issue a written decision at a later date.