MEMPHIS, TN – Shelby County District Attorney Bill Gibbons announced Friday that a jury had convicted a Memphis teen for the 2004 murder of a 16 year old whose body was found shot and burned in a field in north Memphis.
The jury found Gerraldo White, 19, guilty as indicted for first degree murder in the perpetration of a felony and especially aggravated robbery. Brown will be sentenced to life in prison for the murder charge and faces 15-25 years in prison for the robbery charge.
The body of Deangelo Shaw, 16, was found May 29, 2004 in a field near the corner of Hubert and McLean. The victim was shot and his body was burned. The medical examiner’s office identified Shaw’s body through dental records.
At the request of the District Attorney’s Office, in 2004 a juvenile court referee transferred White to Criminal Court to be prosecuted as an adult. Co-defendant Joshua Taylor, 19, who awaits trial on the same charges, was also transferred to Criminal Court. Both were 15 years old at the time.
It is the policy of the District Attorney’s Office to request that juveniles who are 16 or 17 years old be transferred to Criminal Court if they are charged with committing a violent crime. The D.A.’s Office also carefully reviews cases in which a juvenile under 16 is charged with committing a violent crime to determine if a request to transfer the juvenile is appropriate.
The maximum penalty for a juvenile convicted of first degree murder in Tennessee is life in prison with parole after 51 years.
A third co-defendant, Quincy Washington, 31, pleaded guilty to facilitation to commit second degree murder last February.
Assistant District Attorneys Glen Baity and Alexia Fulgham prosecuted this case in Criminal Court Division 3 before Judge John P. Colton, Jr. |