Trending
YOUNGSTOWN -- Shaiqon Sharpe and his cousin Taquashon Ray, both 25, were sentenced to life in prison with parole eligibility after 107 years today in the Nov. 7, 2018, murders of Edward Morris, 21; Valarcia Blair, 19; and her 3-month-old son, Tariq.
Judge Maureen Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court handed down the sentences.
There was actually one sentence that would have been worse. Sweeney declined to sentence both men to life in prison with no chance at parole.
Sharpe and Ray were convicted Feb. 10 on all counts -- four counts of aggravated murder, three counts of murder and single counts of tampering with evidence, obstructing justice and improperly discharging a firearm into a habitation or school safety zone.
During their three-week trial that was delayed by weather and other issues, prosecutors presented testimony about DNA attributed to Ray on a bullet shell casing found near the car where the victim were found mortally wounded on Pasadena Avenue on the South Side.
They also presented testimony regarding Facebook messages that could be interpreted as evidence of a plan to kill Morris for money.