YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — A man who pleaded guilty Wednesday to a 2021 shooting death was sentenced Thursday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to 20 years in prison.
Khayree Williams, 25, of Youngstown, received the sentence from Judge John Durkin after he pleaded guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter, robbery and a firearm specification.
He pleaded guilty to the June 6, 2021, shooting death of Kesean Bunch, 23, whose body was found in a parking lot at Glenwood and West LaClede avenues.
The sentence was recommended by the attorneys in the case and upheld by Judge Durkin.
Bunch’s mother, Camica Dannals, told the judge via speakerphone she thought the sentence was too lenient.
Dannals said her son was in town for a short time to visit family. She said Williams and two other men planned to kill her son, and because of that, he should receive a harsher sentence.
“My son didn’t deserve to be plotted on and thrown to the ground,” she said. “Twenty years isn’t enough. I only have memories. It’s not justice.”
Bunch’s father, Ashanti Bunch, said no kind of sentence will bring his son back.
“Something is better than nothing,” Bunch said.
Defense attorney Lou DeFabio said a sentence of 20 years is not “inconsequential,” and he also added Kesean Bunch’s death was not premeditated.
Williams declined to speak before he was sentenced.
Judge Durkin also said the sentence is a strong punishment.
“Nothing that happens can bring back a life,” he said. “But 20 years is a significant period of time to be incarcerated.”
Assistant Prosecutor Patrick Kiraly said Kesean Bunch was killed during a robbery and his body was left in the parking lot after he was shot.
A case against another defendant is still pending while a third defendant is facing charges In Pennsylvania for an unrelated crime.
