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November 10, 2009

Drive-by defendant gets 5 straight life sentences

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — A judge has sentenced a Tulsa man to five consecutive life prison terms for killing a teenager and assaulting four others in a drive-by shooting that prosecutors say stemmed from a case of mistaken identity.



Tulsa County jurors in October found Rashad R. Easley, 20, guilty of first-degree murder and four counts of assault and battery with a deadly weapon in the shooting on Sept. 7, 2008. Jurors imposed a life term on each count.



Donivan Crutcher, 16, was fatally wounded and died the day after the attack. Three others in a car with Crutcher were seriously injured, and a fourth was grazed by gunfire.



At Monday's formal sentencing, District Judge Tom Gillert ordered all terms to run consecutively.



Two other defendants remain to be tried in the case. Prosecutors said Easley mistakenly believed that one of the occupants of the car at which bullets were fired had attacked him days before.

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