GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A gang member who was 17 when he killed a man outside a Grand Rapids liquor store had his maximum prison sentence cut in half Wednesday, the same day his victim would have celebrated a birthday.
“I birthed my son today — 40 years ago,” a tearful Delisa Chapman told convicted killer Jamarie Bell, now 21. “So, I think it is very unfair I am still dealing with this. I haven’t had time to heal.”
Kent County Circuit Court Judge Mark Trusock was sympathetic, explaining higher courts have directed him to resentence several youthful killers over the years.
“I understand the pain that you are going through,” he said. “I’ve had to do this time and time again and I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do about it.”
The killing happened in October 2020 outside Miss Tracy’s Liquor Store as the victim, 35-year-old Romito Jones, sat with others in a parked car.
A Kent County jury found Bell guilty of first-degree murder; he was sentenced to 40 to 120 years in prison.
Lawyers for Bell appealed the sentence, arguing Trusock failed to consider Bell’s youth “as a mitigating factor” at sentencing.
In a seven-page ruling, the three-judge panel agreed and sent the case back to Trusock for re-sentencing.
“During resentencing, the trial court must consider defendant’s youth as a mitigating factor,” justices wrote in the Feb. 1 opinion.
The judge Wednesday addressed Bell’s age at the time of the killing, but didn’t change Bell’s minimum term, just the maximum term. The original sentence of 40 to 120 years was changed to 40 to 60 years.
“It was a cold-blooded shooting,” Trusock said. “These people did nothing. You had no remorse whatsoever.
“I stated at the time that society needs to be protected from you and there is just no excuse or justification for this murder,” he added.
Defense attorney Andrew Rodenhouse asked for an adjournment so he could address issues raised by the Court of Appeals. Trusock opted to proceed with the resentencing.
Trusock told the courtroom that he considered several factors during the 2022 sentencing, including the victim’s age, immaturity and family environment.
“Although I did not articulate the fact that he was 17 at the time, I was well aware of that,” Trusock said.
“There was a situation where you were trying to prove yourself to a gang,” Trusock said. “You basically walked up to a car of four innocent people that had nothing to do with you, or any gangs or anything else and opened fire.”