JEFFERSON COUNTY — A 22-year-old Mt. Vernon man was sentenced Monday afternoon in Jefferson County court to 70 years in prison for the January 2017 shooting death and botched robbery of DeAndrey Jackson in a Mt. Vernon alley.

A Jefferson County jury in March had found John Wells guilty of first-degree murder in that he fired 13 rounds at Jackson while he was attempting to get away from a botched robbery at 18th and Conger.

Wells was subsequently indicted in the case, along with seven others, including Curtis Devan, Jr., Dantrez Brown, Deon Frazier, Jarron Liddell, Lamar Williams Jr., Tony Feggins, and Lekedrion Russell.

Russell, Devan, and Frazier have pleaded guilty to lesser charges in exchange for testifying against the other co-defendants.
Brown and Liddell also entered plea agreements requiring them to testify but murder and robbery charges against them were dismissed.

Additional law enforcement was brought in Monday to maintain the peace in the courthouse where numerous members of both the victim’s and the defendant’s families were present.

A victim’s impact statement was read into the record prior to sentencing Monday. Wells, however, declined to give a statement of allocution.

A defense request to reconsider the sentence was denied and a notice of intent to appeal was filed. Wells will have to serve 100-percent of the 70-year sentence.