DETROIT – The two adults were sentenced Friday for their role in the death of 4-year-old Detroit boy Jamel Witcher Jr., who was accidentally shot by his young cousin while they played with a gun.
Patricia Johnson and Harvey Witcher were in court Friday after they kept the judge waiting for more than an hour and a half and never showed up on Wednesday. However, the judge said Friday that due to a clerical error the judge and prosecutor did not know the hearing had been adjourned.
Both pleaded guilty and were sentenced to two years of probation and two years in prison.
The gun belonged to Harvey Witcher, the boy's grandfather. He, Johnson and a third adult, Robert Richardson were in the home at the time of the shooting and subsequently charged.
Read: 2 convicted in Detroit boy's death don't show up for sentencing