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.