Baldwin teen sentenced to 20 years to life for deadly shooting outside Hempstead house party
Jacob McMillan, 19, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, attempted murder and weapons charges.
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It's 20 years to life behind bars for the Baldwin man who fired into a crowd as he fled a Hempstead house party, killing one person and injuring others.
Jacob McMillan, 19, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, attempted murder and weapons charges.
"That's what he deserves. He certainly doesn't deserve to get out after 20. He took this young girl's life for no reason," says Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly.
Prosecutors say he fired three shots during a fight at a house party in Hempstead last November.
One bullet went through the shoulder of another victim and struck 19-year-old Amira McCleod. McCleod was a student and basketball player at Monroe University.
Two other Nassau Community College students were injured.
The courtroom was packed with family, friends and teammates McCleod, many of them wearing blue and yellow. Many of them gave victim impact statements and speaking directly to McMillan.
"You ripped my heart out," said McCleod's mother Monique Baldwin in the courtroom. "I am lost without my daughter."
Baldwin said her and her daughter were like twins and her life hasn't been the same without her.
"I don't have the person that I can speak to or hold," Baldwin said after the sentencing. "She was perfect. She didn't cause problems. She made me a better mother."
"We were together all the time," says McCleod's friend Natalia Williams. "It's really sucks what happened, like just waking up to a text that your friend died."
"Her smile lit up a room," says Head Coach for Women's Basketball at Monroe University Damel Ling. "She was a leader from day one."
McMillan also tearfully spoke in the courtroom after the victim impact statements.
"I take accountability for all my actions," he said in the courtroom. "My intentions were never to hurt anyone."
McMillan's defense attorney says he hasn't spoken to McMillan yet but believes this is a fair sentence. He added McMillan's family was in court today and they were emotional as well.
