Kankakee man sentenced to 78 years in Illinois' 1st televised trial

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 14, 2013 - 5:53 pm EDT

KANKAKEE, Illinois — A Kankakee man has received a 78-year prison sentence in a case that was the first Illinois trial to feature live, gavel-to-gavel TV coverage.

Kankakee County judge Clark Erickson sentenced 21-year-old Demetrious Jones on Tuesday. Jones was convicted in October of the 2011 shooting death of 27-year-old Marcus Sanders. The Daily Journal in Kankakee reports (http://bit.ly/10FH3QX) that Jones declined to make a statement and stretched and yawned during the sentencing hearing.

The victim's mother, Glenda Sanders, said she and her family "are finally at peace." Jones' defense attorney asked for the minimum sentence of 71 years. Prosecutors sought 100 years.

Jones' trial was part of an ongoing Illinois Supreme Court experiment to lift camera bans in select courts.

Information from: The Daily Journal, http://www.daily-journal.com

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