Teen given life sentence in slaying of couple

Kim Smith

Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2001 | 11:01 a.m.

A Las Vegas teen convicted of first-degree murder in the deaths of an elderly couple known for selling candy to neighbor children was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday.

Shauntay Wheaton, 17, will have to serve at least 40 years in prison before he is eligible for parole on the murder charge. However, he was also sentenced to three to 10 years on a burglary charge that will have to be served after the murder sentence is completed.

Wheaton was convicted in December of shooting to death Flora Johnson, 86, and Azel Evans, 71, on Sept. 23, 1998.

Prosecutors alleged that Wheaton, who had just turned 15, and Deangelo Mitchell, 16, went to the elderly couple's home to rob them of their candy profits but ended up killing them instead.

Johnson, who was known as the "Candy Lady," died from one gunshot wound, and Evans was struck by three bullets.

The boys were seen leaving the house by a neighbor, and police found Wheaton's bloody footprints in the kitchen.

Mitchell, who was convicted shortly after Wheaton, is awaiting sentencing.

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