Family members of a teenager shot to death in Evanston in 2007 were angered Wednesday when a judge sentenced the killer to just 10 years in prison for the crime.
“We went through hell,” said Jamaal Davis, a cousin of victim Darryl Shannon Pickett. “I just visited my cousin in the graveyard. That’s where he’ll be in 15 years, in 30 years, forever.”
Theo Wright, 20, of Evanston, was convicted earlier this year of killing Pickett, 17, of the 1900 block of Hartrey Avenue, a student and football player at Evanston Township High School, on June 28, 2007. Wright was also a student at ETHS.
Besides the 10 years for Pickett’s second degree murder, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Larry Axelrood on Wednesday also sentenced Wright to another five years in the Illinois Department of Corrections on charges of aggravated discharge of a weapon related to the crime. The sentences are to be served consecutively.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office said a second-degree murder conviction can carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
Before handing down the 10-year sentence, Axelrood called the shooting the result of an intersection of young men with too much testosterone. He also said that males in their mid to late teens often make bad decisions without thinking about the consequences.
“You created a tragedy for multiple people,” Axelrood told Wright. “This case is tragic on so many levels.”
Pickett’s mother, Kim Bell-Pickett, told the court about receiving her son’s high school diploma after his death, and how the holidays have been difficult without him.
“From the time that Shannon was killed to this very day, I cry day and night,” the teen’s mother said. “I had a nervous breakdown, which seems like it is getting worse. When my son died a part of me died. I live in deep, deep, pain and anger.”
Prosecutors said that the events leading up to the murder started when Pickett’s brother was injured during an altercation with several others earlier on the day of the shooting.
They said Wright went to the 1900 block of Dodge Avenue in Evanston later that day armed with a 9 mm pistol and shot Pickett three times after a second altercation between the two groups on teens.
There were not any other injuries, but Wright was convicted of aggravated discharge of a weapon for shooting at the other teens as they were fleeing the alley.
Wright showed little emotion during the sentencing, but did apologize to Pickett’s family.
“I’m not no murderer and it’s not in my heart to kill no one,” he said.
Wright has been in jail since his arrest shortly after the murder and with time served could be released from prison in as little as seven years.
