URBANA, Ill. (WAND) – A man who shot and killed another outside of a Champaign apartment party is going to prison.
Travis Marshall, 30, pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge as part of a plea deal Wednesday and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. In the deal, a first-degree murder charge and smaller weapons charge we dropped, according to The News-Gazette.
Marshall shot 28-year-old Martrell Johnson on Nov. 25, 2017 at the Countrybrook Apartments complex, which is located in the 2500 block of W. Springfield Ave. in Champaign. Prosecutors say another person at the party, Demario Larkin, told police someone at the party accused him of “snorting powder”, which made him angry and led to a loud dispute. Larkin said Marshall struck him on his head with a handgun.
Assistant State’s Attorney Matt Banach said in court that Larkin, who was with Johnson, left the party as Marshall and two friends he was with left from a different stairwell. Video surveillance showed someone firing a handgun multiple times outside, causing Johnson to fall to the ground.
Police did not find a gun or any shell casings, which Banach said suggested bullets came from a revolver. Fragments located at the scene were from a single weapon.
Marshall is eligible for parole in 10 years and was credited for close to a year he spent in the Champaign County Jail.
