20-year sentence given in killing

Malia Spencer

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2003 | 8:59 a.m.

A Henderson teen who killed a 54-year-old man after a traffic confrontation will have to serve at least four years in prison before he will be eligible for parole, District Judge Donald Mosley ruled Wednesday.

Jeffrey Jefferson, now 18, pleaded guilty in the shooting of William Shepherd, and Mosley sentenced Jefferson to 20 years in prison with the possibility of parole.

Before Mosley handed down the sentence, two of Shepherd's family members spoke to the court.

His son, Raymond Shepherd, said he hoped the same things would be taken from Jefferson that were taken from his father, and he lamented that he will never again get to wish his dad a happy Father's Day or give him a birthday card.

"The only person who should have taken my dad is God," Shepherd said. "No one else had that right."

Jefferson read a statement to the judge and Shepherd's grieving family, who stood holding each other in the back of the courtroom.

"I am sorry for what I did," Jefferson said. "The words 'I am sorry' are not enough, but I will say them anyway."

About 4:30 a.m. on April 21 Jefferson and Shepherd were driving on Patrick Lane when the two motorists became angry at each other, pulled over and got out of their cars. Jefferson shot Shepherd with a sawed off shotgun.

Jefferson told the court Wednesday that there were many things he could have done differently that morning but he didn't think his actions through because he was high on methamphetamines.

"I acted out of fear, not malice," he told the judge.

Jefferson's lawyer, Special Public Defender Kristina Wildeveld Coneh, argued that Jefferson was a juvenile when the crime was committed and that Jefferson's drug abuse was the root of the problem. Jefferson and his lawyer pleaded with Mosely to hand down a sentence of house arrest, probation and drug treatment.

"I am asking for another chance," Jefferson said. "All this has taught me that I don't ever want to be locked up."

Mosley said that he was not very sympathetic to the defense's plea for leniency.

"When I was 17 I knew better than to take a gun into a fist fight," he said.

He added that Jefferson's drug problem was self-induced and that Jefferson needed to pay the price for his actions.