A Chicago man, Deonlashawn Simmons, has been sentenced to 105 years in prison following the execution-style shooting of 14-year-old Takaylah Tribitt in 2019.
According to news reports, Simmons was sentenced by Lake County Judge Natalie Bokota on Apr. 14, after a jury convicted him of murder in March. He subsequently admitted to firearm and habitual offender enhancements during that time but maintained his innocence and said he planned to appeal.
Bokota said Tribitt was “dumped in an alley, among the accumulating trash,” and “discarded like garbage.”
The teen, a runaway, was discovered in a dirty alleyway near East 20th Ave. and Pennsylvania St. in Gary, Ind. on Sept. 16, 2019. Court documents indicated that her hands were bound behind her back with automotive cords, and she was shot in the front of her head at point-blank range. It also stated that her body was found not too far from Simmons’ family’s home and that he met her at a birthday party in Chicago just five days earlier.
Investigators later determined that she was sexually assaulted, as they found DNA from two males on the cords that were tied around her wrist. One of the profiles matched the 36-year-old’s even though he hasn’t been charged with sex crimes.
Deputy Prosecutor Doug Shaw called Tribitt’s death an “execution” and asked the judge to impose a maximum of 105 years in prison for the 36-year-old.
“That’s all the law allows us,” Shaw said. “I can’t imagine a murder that’s more aggravated than the execution of a defenseless child.”
On the other hand, Simmons’ lawyer, Michael A. Campbell, requested a 56-year-sentence with five years suspended in favor of probation.
“She was 14,” Tribitt’s mother, Laura Tribitt, reportedly said. “She was a baby. I don’t want to say [any] more. I don’t really want to look at [Deonlashawn Simmons].”
