YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – It has been two years since 14-year-old Landon Lockhart was murdered — his body was later found in the woods. On Thursday, a 17-year-old was sentenced to four years at the Department of Youth Services for his role in the crime, which Lockhart’s mother is not happy about.
The 17-year-old is getting the maximum sentence allowed by Ohio law, but Lajena Soloman, Lockhart’s mother, calls the sentence a slap on the wrist.
“I think our judicial system is really messed up for juveniles,” she said. “I’m really not happy with the sentence because all they did was wrote a book called ‘Lesson 101: How to get away with a murder as a juvenile.'”
Two other suspects in Lockhart’s murder — Anthony Wilkins, Jr. and Anjuan Whitfield — will stand trial as adults. Solomon says the 17-year-old took a plea deal in order to testify against the other suspects.
Solomon believes more details about Lockhart’s murder will come out in the trial.
“He couldn’t get his story together, not at all,” Soloman said.
She also doesn’t believe the 17-year-old is remorseful for the death of her 14-year-old son.
“When a judge asked you, ‘Did you have anything to say to your family or to the victim’s family?’ And you’ve told her, ‘No.’ Not once, three times, three times you told her no,” Soloman said.
Solomon says she would have liked to see all three suspects tried as adults.