William Simpson was shot and killed in Central Fresno almost ten years ago. Now, the person who did it has been given a life term. In 2013, Jerel Stanfield killed his rival, who was 23 years old, and was then shot by the cops.
Stanfield was found guilty earlier this year. His first trial finished with a “hung jury.” Today, a judge gave Jerel Stanfield a term of 25 years to life.
That was doubled because he had hit him before, and it was tripled because his tool was better. A 10-year term was also given for using a gun to hurt someone. Stanfield sat in court on Tuesday morning in his red outfit, waiting to hear his sentence.
His lawyer, Kevin Little, put in a lot of moves, one of which was for a new trial. One of his points was that William Simpson’s fiancee, Lajeana Ramsey, appeared on the same day he did.
During her testimony, she stood up and yelled, “He *expletive* killed him!” “Her outburst on the first day of testimony was so unfair that we should have stopped right there and started over,” Stanfield’s defense attorney, Kevin Little, said.
Judge Jonathan Conklin didn’t agree. He said that it was short, that it was her evidence, and that the jury was taken away right away.
Little also asked the judge not to count Stanfield’s previous strike because the last offense happened almost 5 years ago.
He also wanted the change to the weapon to be taken away. The Conklin said no to both requests because Stanfield has been caught with a gun more than once.
“This is not the first time, the second time, or even the third time. “He was in possession of a gun, and someone died because of that,” Judge Conklin said.
Stanfield didn’t seem to react when Judge Conklin gave him a sentence of 85 years to life in jail for the first-degree murder of William Simpson and the use of a gun against Simpson’s fiancee.
“Today is a terrible day. “One person died in 2013, and if this verdict stands, which we hope it doesn’t, then another person died today,” Little said.
The victim’s family didn’t say anything in court, but Simpson’s aunt said in a written statement, “We will always remember William and keep his name and memories in our hearts, but that’s all we have.” Kevin Little, Stanfield’s lawyer, says that his client does plan to file an appeal.
