Man, 20, gets minimum of 42 years in prison for killing of 16-year-old boy in Lansing
CHARLOTTE — Darrell Smith, a talented and musically gifted junior at Sexton High School, had just received his driver's license on the day he was gunned down in early 2021 over a bag of marijuana, his mother, Stephanie Marie Smith, told a judge on Monday.
The Lansing 16-year-old was fluent in Japanese and had a lot of scholarship money waiting for him, his mother said.
"It was the hardest thing I've ever had to experience," she said. "I expected great things from my son."
Eaton County Circuit Judge Janice Cunningham went along with Stephanie Smith's request that she levy the harshest possible penalty on 20-year-old Deshown Ernesto Clark Jr., who was convicted of first-degree felony murder in Darrell Smith's death.
Clark, who was 18 at the time of the incident. was sentenced to 40 to 80 years on the murder charge and the mandatory two years for felony firearm possession. The firearm sentence is consecutive to the murder sentence, meaning Clark will have to serve at least 42 years in prison, with 614 days of credit for the time he's spent in jail.
First-degree murder carries mandatory life in prison without possibility of parole, but Clark was sentenced under a 2022 Michigan Supreme Court ruling that life without parole is not proportional for 18 year olds because the mitigating circumstances of youth are not factored in. If prosecutors decide to seek a life-without-parole sentence, they must prove by clear and convincing evidence that sentencing a young person to die in prison is constitutional. Otherwise, judges should set a minimum sentence ranging from 20 to 40 years, the justices held.
The Eaton County Prosecutor's Office disagrees with the state supreme court's stance but accepts that Clark would be sentenced to a term of years, Deputy Chief Assistant Prosecutor Adam Strong told Cunningham on Monday. He, too, asked Cunningham to impose the 40-year minimum sentence on Clark.
"I think you are a dangerous young man," Cunningham told Clark on Monday, saying she didn't see much hope for rehabilitation considering Clark's prior record and lack of successful treatment in the juvenile system. "I think you need to be incarcerated."
The shooting happened March 31, 2021, in the area of Burneway and Seaway drives in southwest Lansing. Smith was shot in the chest and died that night at a hospital.
Clark maintained his innocence but was convicted after a jury trial in May. He told Cunningham on Monday he was denied a fair trial.
The judge disagreed, saying the jury concluded Clark deliberately shot Smith during a marijuana buy.
"Taking a gun to a drug deal is a very bad idea, but it also shows there was some kind of intent there," Cunningham said.
Clark had several prior juvenile court adjudications, including for home invasion and assaulting a police officer, and the treatment was unsuccessful, the judge said. He was under court supervision when the shooting happened, she said.
Stephanie Smith, who carried a large, framed photo of her son into the courtroom on Monday, said she is "really pissed off at the system."
"If the system had done their job, that man wouldn't have been out there to kill someone," she said. "He should never have been out walking the streets."
Contact Ken Palmer atkpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj
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This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Man, 20, gets minimum of 42 years in prison for killing of 16-year-old boy in Lansing
