Prosecutors hope teen's sentence for deadly Arlington Lamar HS shooting sends a message
FORT WORTH, Texas - When there was a shooting at Arlington's Lamar High School in March, it grabbed national headlines, and so did the 40-year sentence handed down to the teenager Thursday.
It's not just the sentence people are paying attention to, but the message that it's sending.
Jurors, in a very short time, did just what the prosecutors asked, which was to send a message that shootings in schools, at community events, and into crowds of people come with consequences and cannot continue.
Before the 16-year-old learned his punishment, prosecutors made it clear this was about much more than what happened outside Arlington’s Lamar High School.
"This is about every one of those kids, every one of those kids that should be safe at their school," Tarrant County prosecutor Lee Sorrells said.
Prosecutors wanted the jurors to send a message beyond this case.
"[To anyone] that wants to shoot a school or shoot into a crowd of kids that that is not acceptable and we will not stand for it we as society will not stand for that to happen again," Sorrells added.
It seems no area is immune to gun violence, and Tarrant County has had its share of gun crimes.
Four people were shot, and one - a father of 12 – was killed on June 21 at the Handley Oak Apartments.
Just 13 days later, three people were killed and eight were wounded, including a child, in the Fourth of July shooting in the Como neighborhood.
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There was a shooting at Mansfield's Timberview High School back in 2021 after a fight in a classroom.
Timothy Simpkins pulled a gun from his backpack and opened fire, hitting the student he had fought with, but also shooting another student and a teacher. Thankfully, no one died.
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Lloyd Whelchel was part of the prosecution team in both school shooting cases.
"I think the community has seen enough of this, and I think their verdict and the swiftness of their verdict sends a message that they won't tolerate it anymore," Whelchel said.
The verdict was swift. Jurors were out just a little over an hour, showing it didn't take them that long to reach their decision.
After the trial, the 16-year-old injured in the shooting, with her mother by her side, said history keeps repeating itself.
"It's something that should not be happening to kids our age or younger," she said.
Students have to raise their voices to help change the narrative and protect themselves.
"Protecting ourselves with our voices and voicing our concerns to the mayor, city council, just going to our principal and our school board to make us feel safer at school," she added.
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A new law that takes effect this September will require Texas school districts to have an armed officer on every campus. And if a district is unable to do this, it must have a ‘good cause exception’ with an alternative plan.
The Texas Legislature did pass school security measures this session, which includes requiring an armed security on every campus and more training to help staff identify students who may need mental health support before grief counselors have to come to a campus to help students and staff talk about what they are feeling after a tragic event.