A 36-year-old Chicago man was sentenced to 105 years in prison, on Thursday, in the fatal shooting of a 14-year-old girl found dumped in a trash-filled Gary alley, facedown with her hands bound behind her back.
Deonlashawn Simmons was sentenced by a Lake County judge in connection with the Sept. 2019 killing of Takaylah Tribitt, a runaway who was found in Gary not far from where Simmons' family resided, according to court documents. Tribitt's body was found five days after she and Simmons met at a birthday party held on Sept. 8, 2019, in Chicago.
A jury convicted Simmons of murder in March, and he later admitted to firearm and habitual offender enhancements. He has maintained his innocence and said that he would make an appeal on Thursday.
Lake Criminal Court Judge Natalie Bokota said Tribitt was bound with a cord and robbed of any opportunity to act in self-defense or attempt escape. Judge Bokota said the teenager was "dumped in an alley, among the accumulating trash," and "discarded like garbage."
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Doug Shaw called Tribbit's death an "execution." Shaw asked for the maximum 105-year sentence, stating, "that's all the law allows us." He said the circumstances surrounding Tribitt's death were some of the cruelest he had ever seen. Tribitt was a "defenseless child," the attorney said.
Meanwhile, Simmons' attorney, Michael A. Campbell, had asked for a 56-year sentence, with five years suspended in favor of probation.
Tribitt was reportedly found dead at around 9 a.m. on Sept. 16, 2019. According to the investigators, she had been sexually assaulted, and DNA from two males was found on her wrist's cords. Although he has not been charged with sex crimes, one profile matched Simmons.
"She was 14," Laura Tribitt, her mother, said. "She was a baby. I don't want to say no more. I don't really want to look at him." Another relative, Felisha Vernado, expressed anger saying Simmons was a predator and a coward, because he would never have killed a grown woman the way he murdered Tribitt.
