Man sentenced for teen’s murder at the ‘cut’ near Woodbridge High School [View all]
Kawain Tyrell Smalls, 21, of Woodbridge, pleaded guilty in November to first-degree murder for the Nov. 10, 2014 shooting death of 16-year-old Brenden Wilson.
At an emotional sentencing hearing Monday, Prince William Circuit Court Judge Steven S. Smith sentenced Smalls to 75 years in prison, with 25 years suspended, plus three years of probation.
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Conway asked the judge to sentence Smalls to life in prison, with all but 50 years suspended, citing his lengthy criminal record and the seriousness of the crime. Smalls had several prior convictions, including convictions for violent crimes and firearms offenses. He was out on bond, and on house arrest with an ankle bracelet monitoring device at the time of Wilson’s murder Conway said.
http://www.insidenova.com/headlines/man-sentenced-for-teen-s-murder-at-the-cut-near/article_332faaea-ea5e-11e5-b7bc-ab4a715b29e0.html
I see a lot of comments about the fact that we need stricter gun controls laws and that will help cut down on gun violence. The problem is the criminals determined to commit crimes and who aren't going to worry about whether they should or should not have a firearm. Here we have a guy who was on bond for prior violent offenses and yet still used a firearm to shoot someone 6 times in the back and once in the head. He wasn't deterred by the existing gun laws that barred him from owning a firearm. And he only received a 50 year sentence for taking the life of another in a robbery/shooting when he already had existing violent crime convictions, which to me it too lenient a sentence.
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