KANSAS CITY — The last of three men charged in connection with the brutal killing of a 14-year-old eighth grader was sentenced to prison on Wednesday.
A jury convicted Ce-Antonyo Kennedy of beating and shooting to death Alexis Kane two years ago at a south Kansas City water park.
Once again, a judge declined to impose the maximum penalty in the case.
Ce-Antonyo Kennedy apologized to Alexis Kane’s family in court, saying that he’s sorry for the poor decisions that he made, and telling them that he’s “not a bad person,” that he’s “not a killer, not a murderer.”
A jury recommended 15 years for his conviction of 2nd degree murder and 10 years for armed criminal action, which a prosecutor sought to be served consecutively. The judge instead set those sentences to run concurrently, meaning Kennedy would only be in prison for 15 years.
His public defender successfully argued that Kennedy did not deserve 25 years behind bars because there was no evidence that he fired any of the five gunshots that hit and killed the 14-year-old girl.
A judge instead sentenced Kennedy to 15 years in prison, and told him he hopes he will make good decisions to turn his life around.
But evidence was introduced Wednesday that Kennedy is already making bad decisions.
Investigators seized a cellphone from his jail cell in April. Kennedy used it to post a rap video on YouTube called, “Cee-Dawg Deeper Than You Think,” which was recorded entirely within a jail pod at the Jackson County Detention Center.
A police gang squad detective also testified that Kennedy used the phone to make Facebook posts rallying support for his release using the hashtag #FreeCeeDawg and #FreeDaGang.
Kennedy’s father also testified in support of his son. Christopher Kennedy currently is serving two consecutive life terms for murder, but said he would seek to house his son in the same jail cell with him because he doesn’t “want to fail him again.”
Kane’s mother declined to comment following the sentence, as did Kennedy’s family. Although he did not get the maximum penalty, Kennedy’s sentence is the longest of the three convicted. Issac Carter received only 10 years and Dominic McDaniel got 5 years behind bars for what prosecutors called a brutal killing.
