A Chicago man was given a 105-year sentence on Thursday for the execution-style killing of a 14-year-old girl.
Deonlashawn Simmons, 36, was convicted of the 2019 murder of Takaylah Tribitt in March. He admitted to firearm and habitual offender enhancements.
Simmons has maintained his innocence. On Thursday, he said he would appeal his conviction.
Tribbitt, a runaway, was found facedown in a Gary, Indiana, alleyway with her hands bound by cords. The location was not far from where Simmons’ family lived.
She and Simmons had met five days before she was killed at a birthday party in Chicago.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Doug Shaw asked for a maximum sentence of 105 years. “That’s all the law allows us,” he said. He called Tribitt’s murder an “execution.”
Defense attorney Michael A. Campbell asked for a 56-year sentence for his client. He also asked for five years of the sentence to be suspended.
