As part of a plea deal, a North Carolina judge sentenced a man accused of killing a 5-year-old boy in 2020 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
According to media reports, Darius Nathaniel Sessoms, 28, of Wilson, accepted an Alford plea to a charge of first-degree murder on Thursday. In such a plea, the defendant doesn’t admit guilt but agrees the prosecution has presented sufficient evidence to support a conviction.
On August 9, 2020, while Cannon, his sisters, and his aunt were playing in the front yard of their father’s house, Sessoms, according to the prosecution, shot Cannon Hinnant. The next day in Goldsboro, Sessoms was taken into custody.
Five-year-old Cannon Hinnant was allegedly executed at point-blank range with a gunshot to the head by 25-year-old felon Darius Nathaniel Sessoms while riding his bike and playing outside his house on Sunday evening in Wilson, North Carolina
I,'M NOT POSTING THE VIDEO 😬 pic.twitter.com/G8W1AKELpi— Ray Garcia 🇺🇸 (@RayGarciahawaii) August 11, 2020
If the matter had gone to trial, Sessoms might have received the death penalty. Sessoms was granted the death penalty in October by Superior Court Judge L. Lamont Wiggins.
Sessoms was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole by Wiggins on Thursday.
According to his mother, Bonny Parker, the plea arrangement implies that Cannon’s sisters won’t be required to give a statement. She declared in court on Thursday that Sessoms “made us suffer for the rest of our life” and called Cannon “my pride and pleasure.”
According to Parker, the request “brings us a little bit of peace.” Understanding that we are leaving today and don’t need to return.
After the shooting, according to prosecutor Joel Stadiem, Sessoms walked back to his parent’s house nearby. Prior to the incident, Sessoms’ parents told The Wilson Times that their son appeared to be having hallucinations and might have been using narcotics.
Theo Takemi According to media reports, Sessoms’ ex-girlfriend at the time of the shooting, Marie Pettit, pled guilty on Thursday to felony obstruction of justice and was given a suspended sentence as well as 18 months of probation. Pettit was first accused of being an after-the-fact accessory in the shooting death.
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