After shooting his 8-year-old sister to death in their apartment’s living room because she was “talking back” to him, a Michigan man was sentenced to decades in jail.
On Tuesday, Gyasi Stribling received a prison term ranging from 40 to 60 years. According to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office, a jury last month found the 24-year-old guilty of first-degree murder in connection with Bailei Singleton’s death in 2021.
“Bailei Singleton should still be here with us today,” Prosecutor Karen McDonald said in a statement. “Her murder was a tragedy for her family. It’s unconscionable that anyone, let alone an 8-year-old child, could be murdered by a relative and in their own home over the slightest of disagreements. This case is, unfortunately, a reminder of how gun violence is a public health epidemic that can end a life in an instant.”
On January 3, 2021, police from the Detroit suburb of Southfield arrived at the 12 North Apartments. After being taken to the hospital in severe condition, Bailei passed away from her wounds a few days later.
Stribling, who was 20 at the time, attempted to claim that his sister had been shot during a heist. However, after two witnesses in the house gave conflicting accounts, that story was disproved.
Additionally, he dropped the gun, but police eventually located it. Stribling has been in the Oakland County Jail ever since he was taken into custody by police a few days after the murder.
Read Also: Senior Living Worker Accused of Shoving 76-Year-Old Woman Who Later Died
The crime shocked the police.
At the time, Southfield police chief Elvin Barren told that, “It’s stressful for us. It’s stressful for me to stand here before you and control my emotions when talking about an 8-year-old child.”
Barren described it as a “heinous crime” and expressed his “confidence” that Stribling would face jail time. After a two-day trial, jurors found the defendant guilty, fulfilling Barren’s prediction.
