DES MOINES, Iowa — Preston Walls, a teenager convicted in the Des Moines' Starts Right Here shooting, was sentenced Thursday to up to 65 years in prison.
Walls will serve three consecutive sentences on counts of second-degree murder (maximum of 50 years), voluntary manslaughter (maximum of 10 years) and assault causing serious injury (maximum of 5 years).
The mandatory minimum for Walls is 40 years.
The sentencing comes a year after Walls killed 18-year-old Gionni Dameron and 16-year-old Rashad Carr and injured SRH founder Will Keeps.
In a packed courthouse on Thursday, emotions were high as the court heard from both Walls' family and the victims' families.
Walls apologized to everyone saying he is "truly sorry."
"I wish it never happened," Walls said. "I never wanted this to happen."
Walls' mom, sister, aunt and uncle all spoke about Walls' character and what he means to their family.
"He is everything to me, he is a joy to be around, he is a staple in our family," said Jennifer Morris said, Walls' mom.
However, in the first opportunity for the victims' families to speak directly to Walls, many tears were shed.
"This affected me, my everyday living, how I wake up, all around my house, it's my son," said Dominique Carr, Rashad Carr's mom.
"My heart will never be the same, ever ever. I can't sleep at night, I can't even be the same kind of mom that I've always been," said Mykala Kemp, Gionni Dameron's mom. "You took my whole life, you took my heart and ripped it out of my chest and pissed on it, just like your friends did to his gravestone and stuff and think it's all funny."
Keeps' statement brought both Walls and himself to tears.
"You chose the place to do something where you said you love," Keeps said. "You hurt me and I had to sit there and watch you hurt two boys that I love too."
Both of the victims' families also spoke about the impacts they have seen since the shooting.
"Our family is under attack, we've been under attack since Jan. 23, 2023," said Christine Davis, Gionni Dameron's grandma. "We have had at least ten episodes of their graves being desecrated repeatedly. We have videos all over social media of people urinating on their grave sites, we've got video of someone shooting into the gravesite, we've had my granddaughters threatened."
A jury found Walls guilty of second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and assault causing serious injury in September 2023 after eight days of testimony and cross-examination.
During the trial, police said Walls brought a handgun to Starts Right Here, entered the common area and started shooting before running from the scene.
Keeps testified at Walls' trial.
"I don't know, I just I looked, and I did like this and I looked again and I stared at him and I told myself, I said, 'Either he got a gun or he's bluffing,' and then I told myself, I said, 'He must have got a gun,' and so I walked towards him immediately," he said.
Walls was not the only person charged in the shooting.
Police alleged Bravon Tukes acted as Walls' getaway driver.
He was tried separately from Walls and a jury found him not guilty on all charges, which included two counts of first-degree murder and one count each of attempted murder, willful injury causing serious injury and criminal gang participation.
Walls was originally slated to be sentenced back in November, but it was delayed.
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