Two Illinois men convicted of gunning down the 9-year-old son of a rival gang member in 2015 were handed lengthy prison sentences on Wednesday.
In a Cook County courtroom, gunman Dwright Boone-Doty, 25, and his accomplice, Corey Morgan, 31, were sentenced to 90 and 65 years, respectively, for the murder of Tyshawn Lee. The pair approached Lee at Dawes Park and started a conversation with him before offering to buy him a juice box. Instead, the pair allegedly led Lee to a nearby alley — then fatally shot him several times at close range.
“Where does this mind-numbing, debilitating, senseless violence stop?” Judge Thaddeus Wilson asked during Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, according to The Chicago Tribune.
Boone-Doty and Morgan are suspected members of the Bang Bang Gang/Terror Dome faction of the Black P Stones, who at the time were feuding with the Killa Ward faction of the Black Gangster Disciples, with which Lee’s father, Pierre Stokes, allegedly had an affiliation.
Prosecutors believe the 9-year-old’s murder was revenge for an October 13, 2015, shooting by Stokes’ gang which killed Morgan’s brother and left his mother injured.
Prosecutors said Morgan proclaimed that “grandmamas, mamas, kids and all” were fair targets after killing Lee. The judge rejected Morgan’s comments on Wednesday, stating that “grandmas, mamas, kids and all are not fair game,” according to The Chicago Tribune.
Reverend Michael Pfleger, the priest who presided over Lee’s funeral mass, previously told the Associated Press that he found the slain boy’s body near a trash can and the basketball he was playing with moments earlier. The news outlet reported that part of the 9-year-old’s thumb was shot off as he shielded himself from the barrage of bullets that struck him in the head and back.
Boone-Doty told a jailhouse informant in recorded conversations that he stalked Stokes before spotting Lee at Dawes Park. He detailed how he lured the boy from the basketball court to the alley by taking away his ball by offering to buy him candy, the Chicago Star-Tribune reported.
In September, Morgan rejected a plea deal that would have resulted in him serving 25 years for Lee’s death. The same month, the getaway driver, Kevin Edwards, 26, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in exchange for a 25-year prison sentence. Edwards admitted to dropping the pair off at Dawes Park, where they abducted and killed the 9-year-old.
On October 18, 2015, a few days after Morgan’s brother was killed, Boone-Doty allegedly shot into a car apparently occupied by Stokes — killing a 19-year-old woman who was sitting next to him. Boone-Doty has pleaded not guilty for that murder.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast. Listen to the latest episode:
[Featured image: Tyshawn Lee/WFLD]
