Killers of 57-year-old man sentenced to double consecutive life terms

PROVIDENCE − A Superior Court judge on Monday dealt two young men double life sentences for the death a 57-year-old man, whose helpfulness put him downrange, unwittingly, of the defendant's gang-related gunfire in 2018.

Last year, a jury found Chandanoeuth “Big K” Hay and Jaythan “Ah-Jay” Hang both guilty of the drive-by shooting that had taken the the life of David Page.

At the time, Page had arrived outside a Providence home on Lowell Street to give someone in the house a ride.

On Monday, Superior Court Judge Kristin E. Rodgers meted out the penalties for Hay and Hang's numerous offenses.

"The law-abiding public will be protected from these two individuals for a good long time," Rodgers said.

Under state law, Rodgers was obliged to give each of them consecutive life sentences for the crimes of first-degree murder and discharging a firearm while committing a crime of violence.

The question was what she might impose on top of those terms, potentially impeding any path to parole late in their lives.

Rodgers opted to give Day an additional 10 years, to be served consecutive to the life sentences.

She added the stipulation that five of those 10 years would not be eligible for parole, saying that Hay's criminal background and gang-leadership needed to be reflected.

By contrast, Rodgers was easier on Hang, whose lawyer, Maria Deaton, had emphasized that the requested discretion pertained to a parole situation that might − or might not − affect Hang until very late in his life.

Deaton argued that Hang, the father of two toddlers, was someone who was quite capable of achieving rehabilitation.

She told Rodgers that Hang has stayed out of trouble in jail where he was working in a kitchen and he was "always, always respectful to the court."

Hang read a statement, thanking the court for granting him bail early in the case.

"I hope they can find peace," he said, referring to Page's loved ones.

Assistant Attorney General Jeff Morin had acknowledged that Hang had no previous criminal convictions.

The jury also convicted Hay and Hang, who authorities say are members of the Providence Street Boys and 864 street gangs, of conspiracy, drive-by shooting and two counts each of assault with a dangerous weapon, plus additional firearms charges, in the shooting of Carol Pona and her son Eddy Lee that same morning.

Neither Pona nor Lee were injured, though prosecutors said Lee was the intended target. Page, who Pona had called for a ride, was in the "wrong place at the wrong time," prosecutors said.

According to authorities, the Providence Street Boys and 864 affiliated gangs were at war with rivals Clowntown and the Trinitarios at the time of the shootings.

Earlier that year, 22-year-old Jamal Contreras, a friend and Providence Street Boys associate, was shot and killed on Michigan Avenue. This left gang members, including Hay and Hang, seeking retaliation.

The case leaned on the testimony from a cooperating witness and Hanover associate, Kennedy Terrero. Terrero told of holding the gun used in the shooting, a .22 caliber Smith & Wesson, as a community weapon and retrieving it at Hay’s direction shortly before the shooting.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Two men receive consecutive life sentences for 2018 killing