Last of 6 sentenced for fatal shooting outside Tacoma convenience store

The last of six young men was sentenced Monday for a fatal drive-by shooting outside a Tacoma convenience store.

Pierce County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Arend gave 18-year-old Lance Milton-Ausley a low-end term of 15 years, three months in prison.

The teen pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last year for the death of 19-year-old Brandon Morris.

Prosecutors said Morris was not a gang member, but was fatally wounded during a retaliatory gang shooting in May 2015, outside the store at South 45th Street and South Puget Sound Avenue.

Two of the other young men charged also pleaded guilty, and were sentenced to 12 years and 15 years, three months.

The other three suspects were found guilty by a jury in connection to Morris’ death, and got sentences last year ranging from 25 years to 84 years, two months.

As part of negotiations with prosecutors, Milton-Ausley agreed to take the stand and tell the truth during the trial for his co-defendants. In exchange, prosecutors were to recommend a sentence five years shorter than the one he got.

However, prosecutors successfully argued that the teen violated the agreement by being untruthful at trial, which allowed them to ask for the higher sentence.

This story was originally published January 9, 2017 at 4:56 PM with the headline "Last of 6 sentenced for fatal shooting outside Tacoma convenience store."