Brooks sentenced to 30 years in prison for shooting death of 13-year-old girl

Greg Jordan, Bluefield Daily Telegraph, W.Va.
·2 min read
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Aug. 1—PRINCETON — A woman who pleaded guilty May 31 to second-degree murder in the March 2022 shooting death of a 13-year-old girl was sentenced Tuesday to 30 years in prison.

Nichole Brooks, 44, of Bluefield was brought before Circuit Court Judge Derek Swope for sentencing. In late May, Brooks was being tried on charges of first-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, wanton endangerment and conspiracy when she pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on the second day of her trial.

Brooks and her daughter, Isis Wallace, were charged after the March 23, 2022 shooting which led to the death of Maryze Tatum, 13, of North Carolina.

Tatum passed away at a Charleston hospital after being shot at the intersection of Cumberland Road and U.S. Route 460 in Bluefield. The incident began earlier that evening when officers with the Bluefield Police Department responded to a call about a domestic altercation at a Memorial Avenue home. Wallace's boyfriend was charged with domestic battery, arraigned before a magistrate and released on bond. He returned to Memorial Avenue with Tatum and her mother to collect his belongings.

After another argument during which Wallace fired a shot, Wallace and Brooks got into a white Suburban — Brooks was driving — followed his car and caught up with it at the intersection, investigators said. One shot was fired from the Suburban and Tatum was struck in the head. She was taken to Princeton Community Hospital and then transferred to the Charleston hospital where she later died.

"This is absolutely, horribly, tragically beyond the pale," Swope said of Tatum's death. "This is beyond what I can comprehend."

Swope then sentenced Brooks to a term of 30 years in prison. With good behavior, she could discharge the sentence within 15 years. She must serve a minimum of 10 years.

Isis Wallace was sentenced June 2 to 50 years in prison for second-degree murder and other offenses. She pleaded guilty March 29 to second-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and conspiracy.

Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com