KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Two teens convicted and sentenced to life in prison in the 2021 killing of Stanley Freeman Jr., 16, returned to court Friday.
Deondre Davis and Rashan Jordan were sentenced to 12 years in prison on a charge of aggravated child abuse related to the case.
"He always put a smile on the family's face no matter what circumstances is going on," said Kiyaya Ballinger, Freeman Jr.'s sister. "It's definitely a part of us that's missing, and it's never going to be the same."
In an emotional, two-hour hearing, Freeman Jr.'s family explained the impact of the life they lost.
"I wanted to graduate, walk across the stage and look up and tell Stanley I did it," said Ballinger. "Everything I'm doing in life always had a purpose, which is why I go so hard in everything I do or say."
Knox County Criminal Court Judge Steve Sword ruled the teens should serve the child abuse terms concurrent -- or at the same time -- as they serve life sentences for Freeman's murder. Sword said he weighed factors that tended to both mitigate and enhance the severity of the sentence.
After listening to family members testify on behalf of the young men, the judge said there was no doubt they'd lived through difficult times. Jordan was 14 years old when he took part in Freeman's killing; Davis was 16 years old.
Jordan's parents have spent time in jail and sold or taken drugs. Jordan's father is currently in prison.
Davis's father was abusive to him and his mother, testimony showed Friday. His mother also abused drugs off and on, she testified.
While he was a toddler, Davis suffered burns that required lengthy treatment at a Cincinnati center, his mother said. Then, as a teen, he suffered multiple gunshot wounds that required about two weeks of hospitalization.
Sword said he viewed the murder case as a question of guns and choices. Davis and Jordan essentially worshiped firearms, posing for photos and videos with them, he said.
They used guns to kill Freeman. If they hadn't chosen to use the guns, Freeman would be alive today, Sword observed.
Despite their difficult childhoods, the judge said, "You both knew better."
A mandatory life sentence for a juvenile offender in Tennessee can range from 25 years and 36 years in prison, because of a recent Tennessee Supreme Court ruling.
Stanley Freeman Jr. was among a handful of Austin-East students who died in 2021 because of gun violence, which the community continues to grieve today.
A Knox County jury convicted Davis, then 16 years old, and Jordan, then 14 years old, this spring of killing Freeman. The young man was leaving school to go home to get ready for his shift at McDonald's.
Authorities think they killed him in a case of mistaken identity. Moments before, they'd had an encounter with people in another car similar to Freeman's Honda.
Davis and Jordan also face trials in several other armed attacks in a spree that broke out in early January 2021 and continued until just a couple of days after Freeman was shot and killed.