Palmetto man takes plea, sentenced to 7 years in prison for lesser offense of manslaughter
A Palmetto man arrested for the shooting death of a 27-year-old man in Palmetto in 2020 pleaded no contest to lesser charges of manslaughter and was sentenced to seven years in prison.
Sirness Devon Stuarts, 31, was expected to stand trial in mid-December when the prosecutor on the case filed a motion to extend the trial to a later date because the state couldn't find a material witness.
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What do we know about the Palmetto shooting?
Stuarts was first sought by police in December 2020 after they were called to Palmetto Trae Apartments for a reported shooting, according to previous reporting. When officers arrived, they found Ra'Shaad McDonald lying on a lawn behind 102 8th St. E. with several gunshot wounds.
Despite life-saving efforts by officers, McDonald later died from his injuries at Blake Medical Center.
Investigators determined McDonald was shot during an argument with Stuarts, and court records indicate police obtained an arrest warrant charging the then 28-year-old with second-degree murder with a firearm. At the time, Stuarts was at large and considered armed and dangerous.
Court records in January 2021 show Stuarts was served with the Manatee County warrants while he was in custody at the Lake County Detention Center.
Why was there no trial and who was the material witness?
A trial was scheduled for the week of Dec. 18, according to multiple subpoenas entered into the court file, and the trial was pushed back to the week of Jan. 2, after Assistant State Attorney Tyler Egbert filed a motion asking to extend.
According to the document, the defendant's mother, Telina Lilly, was a material witness who was "uniquely necessary for a full and adequate trial."
However, when the prosecution issued a trial subpoena in early November 2023, it was unserved, and Egbert learned Lilly no longer lived at the address that had been provided to the prosecution. The prosecution later learned after attempting to serve a second subpoena that Lilly had moved to San Bernadino, California.
"At this time, Ms. Lilly is unavailable to the state. Her unavailability was not avoidable and was unforeseeable," the motion states.
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Manatee Circuit Court Judge Charles Sniffen deferred his ruling until Jan. 2, with the case also being set for trial at that time.
During that hearing, Stuarts pleaded no contest to manslaughter and was sentenced to seven years in the Florida Department of Corrections with credit for time served followed by three years of probation. The judge also set outside the outstanding order to take Lilly into custody, according to court records.
Gabriela Szymanowska covers the legal system for the Herald-Tribune in partnership with Report for America. You can support her work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America. Contact Gabriela Szymanowska at gszymanowska@gannett.com, or on X: @GabrielaSzyman3.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Palmetto man takes plea, sentenced 7 years in prison for manslaughter
