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Man sentenced to life in Parramore drive-by shooting deaths, brother's sentencing delayed

By Angela Jacobs, WFTV.com and Kelly Healey
By Angela Jacobs, WFTV.com and Kelly Healey
One of two brothers convicted of killing a nonprofit worker and a mother in a 2016 drive-by shooting in Parramore was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison. 
Lavon Shinn was sentenced to life, but his half-brother, Christopher Miller, got his sentencing delayed due to a technicality. 
Miller has an unresolved issue in an unrelated case, which is why his sentencing was reset. 
A jury deliberated for less than three hours to convict Shinn and Miller in the deaths of 24-year-old Gino Nicolas and 46-year-old Tanya Skeen.
Police said both victims were shot in the drive-by shooting that targeted four other people.
Nicolas and Skeen were caught in the crossfire.
Nicolas, who helped lead a community program for youth in the area, was standing on a corner, talking to friends when he was shot.
Skeen, a mother of two, was putting away groceries inside her kitchen when a bullet pierced the wall, killing her.
A jury found Shinn and Miller guilty of second-degree murder.
Miller wrote a letter to the judge, stating that he "had no knowledge or participation in" the shooting, and asked for leniency.
Read: Orlando police arrest 2 in killings of nonprofit worker, woman
The families of the victims spoke in court Wednesday about what life has been like since losing their loves ones. 
One of Nicolas’ four sisters pleaded with Shinn to apologize. 
“I don’t know if the responsible party is able to give that apology, but that’s something that would go a long way for the family,” said Naomie Monroe. “My mother suffers daily. My father suffers daily.”
She talked about My Brother’s Keeper, the youth program her brother loved. 
Read: Daughter of victim killed in drive-by shooting says mother was 'my everything'
Skeen’s 8-year-old son also took the stand. 
“That’s not fair to me, because he gets to have his mother, but I don’t get to have my mother,” he said. 
His older sister was the first to find Skeen the night she was hit by a stray bullet while putting away groceries.
Ra’Shika Skeen told the court that because her mother and Nicolas were innocent bystanders, her family can’t accept the recklessness of the crime. 
“You sprayed my entire neighborhood. The whole neighborhood. It wasn’t one gunshot. It wasn’t two. It wasn’t three. It wasn’t four. It was 26,” she said. 
Shinn declined to speak oo his own behalf or offer an apology to the families.

Cox Media Group

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