Jerry Vang, who has been behind bars since the day he fatally shot a rival teen in St. Paul in 2001, will serve at least another 25 years in prison, under a sentence handed down Monday in Ramsey County District Court.
Vang was 14 when he killed Kao (David) Vang, 15, and wounded David Vang's younger brother, Kou Vang, in an East Side alley.
Jerry Vang pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in 2001, but the conviction was overturned in 2010, and he went on trial in January. A jury then found him guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.
For the first-degree murder charge, Vang, now 24, was sentenced Monday to life in prison, but with eligibility for parole after 30 years. With credit for the 10 years he has served thus far, Vang faces at least another 20 years in prison for the crime.
District Judge Edward Wilson then added a 90-month prison term for the wounding of Kou Vang. At least two-thirds of that sentence, or five years, must be served behind bars.
The shooter and his victims lived on the same East Side block and had feuded before the shootings on Aug. 7, 2001. David Vang was struck three times, once in the heart, after Jerry Vang stepped from a vehicle, uttered an expletive and started shooting.
ANTHONY LONETREE
