Byron Merriweather was 17 when he shot a man at Miller Park during a 2003 fight between rival Twin City gangs, a crime that netted the teen 70 years in prison.
Merriweather, now 35, was in court on Friday for a new sentencing hearing ordered by the Fourth District Appellate Court. Merriweather was sentenced prior to several U.S. Supreme Court rulings and a decision by the Illinois Supreme Court on the issue of what amounts to life sentences for juveniles.
Judge Casey Costigan heard three hours of testimony some of it emotional from Merriweather’s family and a childhood friend who now supports Merriweather’s goal of becoming a youth counselor.
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