Robin Crain and Debbie Martin leaned on one another for support Tuesday morning, wearing matching shirts commemorating the life of their late brother, Wendell Leon Reynolds, who died last year at the hands of Sean Birge.

The 30-year-old Birge was sentenced by Warren Circuit Judge J.B. Hines to 35 years in prison following a guilty plea to charges of murder, second-degree arson, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence.

Birge previously acknowledged causing the death of Reynolds, 45, on Feb. 20, 2023, at the rental house at 678 Penns Chapel Road where Reynolds allowed him to stay.

As a group of Reynolds’ surviving family sat looking on, Crain and Martin stood by one another at a podium near Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Kori Beck Bumgarner, where the two sisters took turns addressing the impact of their brother’s death.

“It’s not fair, it’s not right…we couldn’t even say a final goodbye,” said Crain, her voice quivering with emotion. “It just doesn’t seem right.”

Speaking second, Martin excoriated Birge, trying unsuccessfully to get him to look at her and the rest of Reynolds’ family as she spoke.

“You’re a coward and you can’t look at us,” Martin said. “Your days coming, you will get what’s coming to you. It may not be on this earth, but you’ll get what’s coming. We won’t waste any more time on you because you don’t deserve our time.”

Birge did not appear to acknowledge the two sisters as they spoke.

Standing with his court-appointed attorney, Jeb Dennis of the Department of Public Advocacy, Birge did not address the court at his sentencing hearing, and Dennis asked for Hines to impose the 35-year sentence reached through the plea agreement.

The sentencing brought an end to the criminal proceedings that arose from the investigation into Reynolds’ death.

Reynolds’ body was found in a back bedroom in the home by members of the Richardsville Volunteer Fire Department, which responded to a report of a house fire in the early morning hours of Feb. 20, 2023.

The fire engulfed the house and brought a response from several other agencies, including the Warren County Sheriff’s Office.

The WCSO, which investigated the death, developed Birge as a suspect, learning that he was known to have stayed at the home with Reynolds, who had also tried to secure work for him.

Prior court testimony given in the case revealed that an autopsy showed Reynolds sustained at least 22 wounds to the back of his head and two puncture wounds to his skull.

At a court hearing last year, WCSO Detective Nick Jewell testified that Birge confessed to causing the wounds with either a hammer that he later disposed of, and then set the house on fire after moving Reynolds’ body to a back bedroom.

A friend of Birge’s reported that, on the night before the fire, Birge said he planned to “accidentally leave” the phone with him, Jewell testified last year.

Fire investigators reported that the blaze started near the front door of the house, with a fuel trail extending to the back bedroom, where authorities found a crowbar and a gasoline can near Reynolds’ body.

An obituary said that Reynolds was a self-employed carpenter who enjoyed fishing, grilling and listening to country music.