Three men will spend the rest of their lives in prison for killing a couple while they slept.
An Onondaga County judge sentenced Lashaun Dixon, Donnell Thornton, and Jamel Weston to life in prison without the possibility of parole. All three defendants were found guilty and convicted by a jury of first-degree murder.
In August 2022, authorities responded to an apartment at 3101 Burnet Avenue, where they found the bodies of 32-year-old Alexis Stellin and 46-year-old Jamie Crawford. The couple had suffered multiple gunshots and were declared dead at the scene. At the time of the murder, the victim’s child, who is blind and non-verbal, lay helplessly in another room for days, according to FingerLakes1.com.
The three defendants were connected to the double homicide based on circumstantial evidence using cellphone data and surveillance footage. Though Weston was arrested in September, both Dixon and Thornton were arrested a month later.
The motive for the killings remains unclear.
During the sentencing hearing, family members expressed anger and grief in a packed courtroom.
"It left a big hole in my heart; I've been struggling for the last three years. I wake up every day with a headache. I haven't been able to eat for two years. I lost 40 pounds. I almost committed suicide," said Crawford’s mother, Michelle Henderson, during the victim impact statement, reported CNY Central.
Though Weston and Dixon refused to address the court, Dixon claimed he was innocent of the crime and didn’t get a fair trial.
All three defendants informed the court that they plan to appeal their convictions.
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