KANSAS CITY, Mo.—A man who was driving a vehicle when a passenger started shooting at a Missouri home, killing a sleeping 3-year-old boy, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
KMBC reports 26-year-old SirTerry Stevenson pleaded guilty on Jan. 23, to second-degree murder and three other charges in the May 2015 death of Amorian Hale.
Second man sentenced to prison in murder of 3-year-old Amorian Hale https://t.co/8v8Mz3p0NQ pic.twitter.com/1wbP3AUFgN
— KMBC (@kmbc) January 23, 2019
Stevenson apologized to Hale’s family for the boy’s death. “It is true. I’m sorry for the loss of the little boy’s life…It shouldn’t have happened.”
Investigators say Stevenson was driving a vehicle when a passenger fired at a Kansas City home where the boy’s family lived.
Amorian was asleep when bullets from an assault-style rifle struck the house. A bullet struck the boy in the head, killing him instantly.
“My brudder!” 3 year old Amorian Hale’s siblings stand at their brother’s grave. It’s been 2 years since he was killed. pic.twitter.com/Cx7V2HpDLO
— Megan Brilley (@meganbrilley) May 31, 2017
Two adults and three other children in the home were not injured.
Stevenson is one of three men charged in the case.
The passenger who fired the shot, Dominique Marchbanks, was sentenced to life plus 165 years in prison in December 2018.
Marchbanks was found guilty in October of second-degree murder and other counts in the May 2015 death of Amorian Hale.
We made two additional arrests (and there are now two additional people charged) in the death of 3-year-old Amorian…
Sulif Wilkins pleaded guilty to second-degree involuntary manslaughter in October and received a 4-year sentence.
Jackson County Prosecutor announces charges in Amorian Hale murder. pic.twitter.com/xhaCTMU8ZD
— Al Miller (@NewsPhotogAl) February 23, 2016
Murders and Violent crimes
The number of murders and violent crimes committed in the United States dropped slightly in 2017, according to new crime statistics released in September 2018.
“Crime declined nationwide last year, consistent with our earlier analyses of 2017 data in the nation’s 30 largest cities,” Ames Grawert, senior counsel for the Justice Program at the Brennan Center for Justice in New York, told the Washington Times.
“That’s the good news. The bad news is that even while crime is falling, the number of Americans incarcerated remains near-record highs. Now is the time to address the problem.”
The number of cases of manslaughter and murder dropped 0.7 percent in 2017 from the prior year, the report said.
Rapes rose by 3 percent and aggravated assault rose by 1 percent, but overall violent crimes dropped 0.2 percent, the report added.
Accidental Shootings
Far fewer Americans fall victim to firearm accidents than some two decades ago, even though people own more guns, according to new data.
Accidental firearm discharges killed 486 people in 2017, down more than 50 percent since 1997, according to mortality data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Meanwhile, gun sales increased more than 80 percent between 1999 and 2017, according to The DataFace, a San Francisco data analysis company, which based its estimates on FBI background check data.
