By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
A plea deal was accepted and the person behind the wheel in the drive-by shooting last August that took the life of a two-year-old St. Joseph girl has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Circuit Judge Daniel Kellogg accepted the plea bargain reached between 21-year-old Te’Avion Hawkins of Platte City and the Buchanan County Prosecutor’s office. Kellogg sentenced Hawkins to 10 years in prison during his hearing in a Buchanan County courtroom this afternoon.
Hawkins was the driver of the vehicle last August that pulled up along side the car in which Raelynn Craig was a passenger. Two passengers in Hawkins’ car, 21-year-old Marcain Kimbrough-Ballard of St. Joseph and 21-year-old Caimon Ramone Stillman of St. Joseph, opened fire. They fired 14 shots into the car, wounding two adults and killing Raelynn.
The prosecutor’s office says Hawkins provided the identities of the two shooters after police tracked down his car and arrested him.
Kimbrough-Ballard was sentenced to 26 years in prison. Stillman received a 24-year sentence.
