Jesse Taylor Jr: Teen gets life in prison for fatally shooting man, injuring workers at North Dakota motel

BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA: A teenager in North Dakota was sentenced on Thursday, January 10 to life in prison.

It happened with the possibility of parole after a jury convicted him last year for the September 2022 shooting a man at a motel in Bismarck.

What happened in South Dakota shooting? 

State District Court Judge James Hill said he couldn't discount the jury's verdict against Jesse Taylor Jr, who was 16 at the time of the fatally shooting 28-years-old Maurice Thunder Shield, McLaughlin, South Dakota.

The judge also held an issue with Taylor's attorney having characterized him as a child, according to the portal.

"You were a child who used a 9 mm firearm to put five bullets into another human being," the judge told Taylor. "

The judge added, "The court heard the testimony in this case and quite frankly, it was overwhelming. You took the life of an innocent person in a senseless act of extreme brutal violence. Self-defense has been argued to me here, but it was nonexistent. There was no credible testimony that you were threatened, and that is what the jury found beyond a reasonable doubt."

Will Taylor be eligible to reduce his sentence in prison? 

At his sentencing, Taylor opted not to say anything. Because he was underage when the crime was committed, he will be eligible to have his sentence reduced after serving 20 years.

Additionally, after serving for around 55 years, he will be qualified to be considered for parole. During the trial, Taylor's lawyer claimed that following a verbal altercation with Thunder Shield, the teenager responded in self-defense.

According to reports, the prosecutor claimed that the argument lacked legal support, that Taylor could have escaped from Thunder Shield, and that he planned to murder him by shooting the revolver five times in a short period of time.

Taylor also was convicted of aggravated assault for allegedly wounding a motel worker in the shooting, and sentenced to five years in prison for that offense, to be served concurrently.