DANVILLE, Ill. (WAND) – A woman who killed a man in a fight that led to a stabbing pleaded guilty to the crime.
Malika Anthony, 17, admitted to stabbing 43-year-old Kuron Kimmons on May 30, 2017 at the Fair Oaks public housing complex in Danville. She was 15 when security cameras showed her and three other people fighting with another group. The video showed Anthony stabbing Kimmons moments after he pulled female suspect Ronesha Pettis from LewShawn Clark, who Pettis is accused of throwing to the ground.
Anthony was originally charged with first-degree murder as an adult, but the guilty plea was to a lesser charge of second-degree murder because Anthony believed she was acting in defense of Pettis, who is her sister, according to The News-Gazette.
The newspaper says Anthony will be sentenced to 20 years and will have to serve 50 percent of that time behind bars. Her release will be followed by a two-year parole sentence.
Other people involved in that fight have been sentenced. Ronald Pettis was ordered to serve five years for mob action, while Marcus D. Jefferson, who pleaded guilty to aggravated battery, was sentenced to four years. The News-Gazette says suspect Ronesha Pettis’ case is pending.
