MONTICELLO, Ill. (WAND) - A jury convicted a Piatt Co. teen for the shooting death of a man in his Hammond home.
Authorities arrested 19-year-old Blayton M. Cota of Granite City and two minors from Springfield at age 16 and 17 for killing 65-year-old Michael Brown with a firearm while committing a burglary.
On July 17, a jury convicted Blayton of Murder.
On Jan. 26, Brown was found dead in his home, located on South C Street in Hammond. The Illinois State Police Division of Criminal Investigations Zone 5 was requested by the Piatt County Sheriff's Department to help with the death investigation.
The 16-year-old teen was arrested on Sept. 30, troopers said, and the 17-year-old suspect was taken into custody on Oct. 5. Coda was arrested on Oct. 4 by ISP DCI agents. Each suspect is charged with first-degree murder in Piatt County, which is a Class M criminal felony charge.
ISP DCI Zone 5 was helped in the investigation by the Attorney General’s Office of Illinois; the Illinois Department of Natural Resources; the Logan, Menard, Piatt, and Sangamon County sheriff’s offices; the Lincoln, Petersburg, and Springfield police departments; and the Piatt County coroner and state’s attorney’s offices.
Cota was sentenced to 40 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. He received 693 days of credit for time served. He must serve 100% of his sentence.
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