The four teens who threw a sandbag off an overpass that killed an Ohio man will not face jail time. They will instead be sent to a “treatment center.”
On Dec 18, four teens between the ages of 13 and 14 threw rocks and sandbags onto Interstate 75 in Toledo, Ohio. They killed 22-year-old Ohio Marquise Byrd who was riding in the passenger seat of the car.
According to WTVG, three of the teens were sentenced to three years in the Department of Youth Service, while the teen who dropped the sandbag was sentenced to the Department of Youth Service until he turns 21. However, Judge Denise Navarre Cubbon suspended all four sentences and ruled they be placed in a “treatment center.”
Lori Olender, juvenile division deputy chief for the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office said in an email, “The youth treatment center is a lockdown facility in Toledo. The program runs six months, but there is no set time to release. The average youth spends eight months there.” The judge told the court, “This was not a prank. Throwing things off an overpass is not a prank.” And despite them killing a young man, the Judge wanted the children to learn how to be a productive member of society.
One of the four teens told the judge, “I was at the wrong place at the wrong time, doing the wrong thing.” Then begged for the victims family for forgiveness, “find it in your heart to forgive me..I’m only 14.”
Byrd’s lawyer, Lillian Diallo called the judges decision “outrageous.”
“Suspended what? If you do what? So eight months you get to go home,” she told WTVG. “His mother will never be able to say ‘Hey son, how are you? How’s your day?” Touch his face, see his face. This is outrageous.”
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article published on April 8, 2018, mistakenly included a photo of four young males who were not related to this story in any way. Atlanta Black Star apologizes and regrets this error.