It’s been nearly four years since a high-powered rifle bullet pierced a truck window and ended Misty Taylor’s life.

Her family members hoped a Friday hearing finally would bring closure to their grieving.

But Joseph R. Beier Jr., Taylor’s boyfriend and the Topeka man who was to be sentenced for reckless involuntary manslaughter in her accidental shooting death, will remain free at least until the end of the month. Douglas County District Judge Jack Murphy on Friday continued Beier’s sentencing.

“I think it would be nice to let my sister rest in peace and have it be done and over,” Taylor’s sister, Connie Moon, said after the hearing.

Last month, Beier, 24, pleaded no contest to the charge, even though on Nov. 24, 1998, he did not pull the trigger of the rifle that killed Taylor, 16, Topeka.

He could face from 34 to 38 months in prison. He also could get probation the option he and his Topeka attorney, Jonathan Phelps, prefer.

For the judge to consider probation, Beier must undergo mental, drug and alcohol evaluations. However, Phelps had not made the necessary arrangements for those evaluations in time for Friday’s hearing. Murphy gave him until 4 p.m. Sept. 30 to do so.

The delay dealt an emotional blow to Taylor’s family. Her mother and four of her sisters sighed and wept Friday in the courtroom when they realized the ordeal wasn’t over.

“It’s been four years,” said Charlotte Rawlings, another of Taylor’s sisters. “How much longer do they have to have?”

Taylor was killed during a hunting trip with Beier and a friend, Donald Raymond Koch, also of Topeka. Using a spotlight, Beier and Koch were taking turns shooting at deer in a rural Douglas County field near Lecompton.

Testimony in earlier court hearings revealed Koch was holding the high-powered rifle that belonged to Beier when the weapon accidentally discharged as Koch climbed into the bed of Beier’s pickup truck. The bullet pierced the truck cab’s rear window, striking Taylor in the head.

“I want him (Beier) to be held accountable for what he has done,” said Cindy Moon, another of Taylor’s sisters. “I believe it’s more his fault than Donny’s fault because she wouldn’t have been there if it wasn’t for him (Beier).”

Koch was convicted in 1999 of involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy to commit illegal hunting. He was sentenced to three years of probation, but the probation was revoked in February 2001. He is now at the Winfield Correctional Facility and won’t be eligible for release until March 2003.

Beier initially was charged with involuntary manslaughter, a charge that was dropped in August 1999 and later refiled. Murphy ruled in April 2000 that Beier’s right to a speedy trial had been violated and dismissed the charge again. An appeals court recently allowed the charge to be refiled as reckless involuntary manslaughter.

Beier is not in custody.

Taylor’s family hopes that will change soon, despite the fact that it won’t bring back their daughter and sister.

“I’ll never forget her,” Taylor’s mother, Loretta McPherson, said. “Her greatest quality was her twinkling eyes.”