A Georgia teen was pronounced guilty of fatally shooting a baby Thursday and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole, ABC News reported Thursday.
Georgia teen, De'Marquise Elkins, 18, appeared subdued while he was sentenced in a courtroom to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of murder for killing 13-month-old Antonio Santiago during a robbery attempt.
"His first word was never heard. His first sentence was never said," the baby's mother, Sherry West, said as tears gushed from her eyes while erected on the witness stand. "He never got to sleep in a toddler bed."
According to earlier reports, Sherry was taking her baby out for a walk using a stroller when Antonio was shot between the eyes on March 21 in the Brunswick, Georgia. Antonio's mother and another teenager charged as accomplice testified in court claiming that Elkins had killed the baby after West refused to hand him her purse.
Due to pretrial publicity, Elkins' trial was moved more than 300 miles away to the suburbs of Atlanta since the killing drew national attention.
ABC News reported that because Elkins was only 17 during the time of killing, the U.S. Supreme court ruled that he is too young for capital punishment and was spared from death penalty.
According to the Georgia law, Elkins is subject to two possible punishments only: life in prison with or without a chance of parole, and the jury chose the latter.
Aside from the maximum possible punishment, Superior Court Judge Stephen Kelley also sentenced the Georgia teen to 105 additional years in prison for other counts including: attempted armed robbery, aggravated assault, and shooting and wounding a pastor 10 days before the killing.
Elkins' defense attorneys told the judge that the sentence of life without parole was too harsh for someone as young as De'Marquise. Then, they presented several court documents showing that for the past seven years the accused had been neglected by his mother, who is struggling with drug abuse.
"We're definitely disappointed with the ruling," Defense Attorney Kevin Gough said. "Life without parole for a juvenile, our position remains, is cruel and unusual punishment."
Gough added that he is planning to appeal both the sentence and the verdict.
"He aimed that gun right between that baby's eyes and shot that baby," District Attorney Jackie Johnson said. "I don't know of a more inhumane act or wantonly vile act ... than to aim a gun at a sleeping baby in a stroller and take that baby's life."
According to the prosecutors, West was pushing Antonio in his stroller home after a brief appearance at a post office when two teenagers approached them, just a few blocks from their apartment.
Dominique Lang, 15, testified that he was with Elkins when the older teen apparently pulled a gun and asked for West's purse. When the baby's mother refused, Elkins threatened her baby twice and counted down to five before finally shooting him.
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