DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) — A 25-year-old Decatur man has been sentenced for a shooting in 2022.

Thursday afternoon, Keylon O'Neal was sentenced to 21 years in prison for shooting a man named Zachary, 24.

WAND News spoke with Zachary's mother one month after the shooting. She shared the shock the family felt after learning their son had been shot multiple times. 

As part of a plea agreement, O'Neal's attempted first degree murder charge was dropped, along with other firearm charges in exchange for pleading guilty to aggravated battery with a firearm.

According to Decatur Police, in June 2022 officers responded to the area of East Wood St. and Maffit St. around 1:30 a.m. for a report of shots fired. Once on scene, they found Zachary with multiple gunshot wounds.

Zachary told police at the hospital, O'Neal shot him three times with a black handgun.

Police tracked down O'Neal on North Illinois Street. They said he had his hands on top of his hand and said, "I messed up man. I know I messed up, I don't want to resist."

During a police interview, O'Neal told officers he had the gun and shot Zachary three times as he was leaving the car. He told police he got mad and claimed he did not intend on killing Zachary.

On Thursday, Zachary's mother took the stand for a victim impact statement. She shared with the court that he is now in a wheelchair and has started to go deaf.

O'Neal's family said that he struggled with substance abuse issues and grief following the death of his mother.

"I take full responsibility," O'Neal told the court. He added that he wasn't in his right state of mind and was "dealing with a lot" at the time.

O'Neal must serve his sentence at 85% and will be under supervised release for three years after. He received around two and a half years of credit for time served.

Judge Jeffrey Geisler called the case "tragic and senseless," and said he "couldn't imagine what the family has gone through and will go through."

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