MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Three men convicted of killing a 7-year-old girl in retaliation for another girl's fatal shooting have been sentenced to life in prison in Tennessee.
The Shelby County district attorney's office said 24-year-old Jordan Clayton, 22-year-old Branden Brookins, and 25-year-old Carlos Stokes were sentenced Friday. Each man received a life sentence, plus more than 40 years.
They were convicted in December of first-degree murder in the death of Kirsten Williams, who was shot in April 2015 while playing in the front yard of a home in Memphis.
Investigators said Kirsten was targeted. Stokes' sister, 15-year-old Cateria Stokes, was shot in a drive-by shooting before Williams was slain.
Prosecutors argued during the trial that Stokes wanted revenge in response to his sister's killing.
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
