Teens sentenced to juvenile detention center for 'senseless' death of Holt 18-year-old

Clarification: The two teens can be held in a youth detention center until up to their 21st birthdays, but after they turn 19, they will have hearings every six months to determine if they should remain in custody.

LANSING — Noah Sisung's death was a "senseless act of violence over a $180 bag of marijuana," according to the judge in the case.

Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Lisa McCormick, speaking Tuesday to the 13-year-old and 17-year-old convicted of killing 18-year-old Sisung, of Holt, also said the pair lacked empathy for their victim.

"You never thought of the ramifications, not just to yourself, but to another human being," McCormick said. "Your lack of empathy and your greed is why we’re here today."

Both teens were sentenced to a youth detention center and can be held there until up to their 21st birthdays. After their 19th birthday, they have hearings every six months to determine if they should remain in custody.

The 13-year-old pleaded guilty to assault with intent to commit armed robbery and involuntary manslaughter. The 17-year-old pleaded guilty to assault with intent to commit armed robbery and accessory after the fact to a felony

The two teens — who the State Journal is not naming because they are not charged in adult court — shot and killed Sisung Oct. 22, 2021, after meeting up with him to buy marijuana, according to testimony at the teens' plea hearing. The 13-year-old planned to "show or brandish" a gun he had obtained from an older person so he could rob Sisung. He ended up shooting Sisung and both boys fled the scene.

After the boys shot him, Sisung tried to drive away and crashed into a tree at South Pennsylvania Avenue and Kendon Drive in Lansing.

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Trina Coolman, Sisung's mother, begged McCormick Tuesday to keep the two teens in court custody for as long as possible "for their own sakes."

Coolman and her family are unhappy with how the Ingham County Prosecutor's Office handled Sisung's murder case, choosing to try the two teens in juvenile court instead of in adult court.

David Sisung, Noah Sisung's father, said all his family wanted was for the teens' sentences to be set up so they would be evaluated at age 21 and a judge could determine whether they should be sent to prison or released.

Ingham County Prosecutor Carol Siemon has said she is not a fan of that option because it doesn't offer enough flexibility on the adult sentence.

Justin Cardenas, one of Sisung's friends, said Tuesday that he took his son to the plea hearing last month, hoping to show him how the system works — that when someone does something wrong, they are punished. But that's not what he saw, Cardenas said.

"At what point are we going to set an example for the next kid coming through that door? When are we going to step up and stop the violence?" Cardenas said.

Cardenas said one of the two teens should be "sent down the gauntlet as an example that murder doesn't pay."

During the sentencing hearing Tuesday, both teens apologized to Sisung's family and asked for forgiveness.

"I ask God to forgive me every day," the 13-year-old said. "From the bottom of my heart, I'm truly sorry."

The 17-year-old apologized to his mother and the 13-year-old's mother, saying "we weren't raised" to hurt people.

"We really apologize," the 17-year-old said. "We aren't bad people at all and we truly apologize."

The boys' mothers both spoke during the hearing.

"These two boys, they're not monsters," the 13-year-old's mother said. "They have to live with it for the rest of their lives. And both of them are dealing with a lot."

The 17-year-old's mother said she cries every night for Coolman. She said her son is not a monster, that there is so much more to the story than has been told.

"I know you hate me, my son and (the 13-year-old)...but these boys, they're so much more than the circumstances that happened," the 17-year-old's mother said. "But all of that doesn't matter anymore because your son isn't coming back."

Melanie Wandji, the 13-year-old's attorney, said she believes the boy wants to be successful. She said he has struggled with his actions. She said when she showed him a picture of Sisung for the first time, he "almost peed his pants."

The teen has said from the beginning that he did not mean for Sisung to die, Wandji said.

Contact reporter Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or kberg@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @karaberg95.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Teens sentenced as juveniles for killing Holt man during robbery