The man convicted of shooting and killing Willie Bacon in 2017 was sentenced on Monday morning to serve 48 years in prison. Judge Don Poole set the sentence for 38-year-old Jamaal Mayes.
A jury had found Mayes guilty of second-degree murder and possession of a firearm with a violent felony conviction during an August trial.
Prosecutor Andrew Coyle asked for the judge to sentence Mayes at the top of the guideline range, saying “the defendant is a persistent offender, and the state wishes to convict him as such.” Mayes was convicted of attempted rape of a child in 2003, attempted second-degree murder in 2006, and attempted aggravated robbery in 2006.
The top range of the guideline would have seen Mayes sentenced to around 60 years.
“I think consecutive sentencing fits in this case,” prosecutor Coyle said. “He knew the consequences of criminal behavior, and he took a gun and used it on an unarmed man.”
Defense attorney Dan Ripper emphasized his client’s poor mental health and Mayes’ schizoaffective disorder diagnosis. He said the mental condition would have “colored his view of the world” and argued against prosecutor Coyle’s claim that Mayes’ mental illness did not affect him during the act. He also argued that consecutive sentencing would effectively nullify the jury’s decision to convict Mayes of second-degree murder.
“The jury found him guilty of second-degree murder, and if you were to sentence him consecutively, what you’re saying is that the jury didn’t matter,” attorney Ripper argued. “You’re sentencing him to a first-degree murder sentence.”
He asked for a sentence of close at the bottom of the guideline range, which would have been 25 to 38 years if the sentences ran consecutively.
Judge Poole said he took Mayes’ poor mental health, harsh upbringing, and homelessness into account and did consider them to be mitigating factors. But the judge also said he thought there was not proof those mental illnesses “reduced culpability.”
Judge Poole said, “I don’t want to give him a first-degree murder sentence” and then sentenced Mayes to 33 years on the second-degree murder conviction, and then a consecutive 15 years for possession of a firearm.
A woman at the trial testified that Mayes told her he wanted to shoot Bacon "five or six more times" after plugging him with a fatal shot to the chest.
The 39-year-old victim's body was found lying partially on the sidewalk and partially on Baldwin Street near the Community Kitchen.
The witness said Mayes told her that Bacon owed him money. He said he found out that Bacon had just gotten his check. He said when he confronted Bacon he was told, "I'll pay when I get ready to." Mayes said the debt was over $50.
Mayes told the witness that his gun jammed or he would have fired more shots. He said he wanted to go into a wooded area nearby to test the gun to see if he could get it working again. Then, he said, he "would go finish the job."
The witness said Mayes stated that Bacon "begged me not to kill him."
The woman said Mayes pulled a small handgun out of one pocket and a shell casing from the other. He handed her the shell casing. She said she gave him $20 and told him to go to the store. She said that was an excuse to give her time to call police. She said she first spoke with her father, then dialed 911. She said Mayes came back when she was in the process of speaking with the 911 dispatcher. The witness said she made another excuse that she needed to help her neighbor who was having boyfriend problems. She said she told him she would be right back.
She said she went next door and asked to be able to run through the residence and out the back door. She advised the residents to lock their doors. She said she was on the phone calling police again while running through the unit. She said officers arrived 4-5 minutes later and surrounded her residence. She turned over to police the shell casing that was still in her pocket.
Mayes did not immediately come out of the residence. When he did after about 20 minutes he did not have the gun with him. Police found it inside.
A witness told of hearing two shots at the shooting scene and hearing Bacon cry out twice for help.
Mayes told a detective that he shot Bacon because he had a knife and was a bigger man than he is. No knife or any other weapon was found on or near the victim.
Mayes was convicted in the June 2003 murder and robbery of Charles Porter, whose body was found on railroad tracks at Shipp Avenue in Alton Park. He had been shot once in the head and twice in the arm.
Two people who were caught with items belonging to the victim said Mayes was the shooter.
In that case, Mayes was given concurrent sentences of 12 and 15 years after pleading guilty to attempted second-degree murder and especially aggravated robbery.