At sentencing, Ramey admitted, for the first time, that she drove to her ex-boyfriends house in early January and shot Rachel Likes, who was sitting in a parked car
A Galesburg woman was sentenced yesterday to 65 years in the Department of Corrections for murder. 27-year-old Maquesha Ramey was found guilty in January of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Rachel Likes on January 4, 2021. During the trial, evidence was heard that Ramey traveled to Mississippi to purchase a handgun. When she returned, she disguised herself in a hood, mask, and wig and drove to her ex-boyfriend's house in Galesburg. Finding Likes parked outside the house, she shot at least nine times into the car, striking her three times and causing her death. Luckily, Likes' son, who was also in the car, was not injured. During the trial, the jury found that the murder was committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner pursuant to a preconceived plan, scheme, or design to take a human life. Knox County State's Attorney Jeremy Karlin says that she will be required to serve all 65 years of the sentence, which had a range of 45 years to life.