TWO FORMER HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL STARS KILLED A 13-YEAR-OLD. THEN, THEY POSED FOR PHOTOGRAPHS WITH THEIR GUNS.

Two Ohio former high school football stars shot a fellow student to death in a drive-by. Now, they will spend at least three decades behind bars.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Peter J. Corrigan sentenced Duane Jackson, 19, and Leroy Billips, 19, to life in prison with the possibility of parole for the drive-by shooting death of 13-year-old Maurco Toler. Jackson and Billips were found guilty and convicted by a jury of murder, felonious assault, and other charges.

“You had a positive outlet for all your activity, and you chose to take that group mentality from a goal of being successful in sports to this goal of seeking retribution and revenge,” said Corrigan during the sentencing hearing, according to Cleveland.com.

On Dec. 11, 2021, the victim had gone to his friend’s house along 260th Street and Zeman Avenue to pay him a visit. Just as he was about to knock on the door, several shots were fired from a Ford Escape SUV that drove by the house, striking Toler and killing him. According to investigators, the occupants of the vehicle were later identified as both defendants and a third co-defendant, Javyonne Stewart, who is currently on the run.

Later, investigators discovered Jackson, who was a tailback for Benedictine High School, and Billips, a tailback for Euclid High School and Ginn Academy, with Stewart, posed for a photograph next to the SUV wearing their ski masks and brandishing their guns an hour after the shooting.

Soon, both defendants were arrested. However, authorities believe Toler’s friend’s older brother had been the intended target.

Billips’ defense lawyer, Joseph Lonardo, requested the court for leniency and claimed his client suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The judge disagreed!

“If you had the trauma of losing someone to gun violence, you shouldn’t have ever wanted to go out to do the same thing, whether if it was for my brother or not, that shouldn’t have ever been in your mind at all,” said Toler’s sister Cadrionya Thompson, reported News 5 Cleveland.

Jackson will be eligible for parole after spending 32 years, while Billips will be eligible for parole after 25 years.