A Streator man was sentenced to 80 years in prison in the shooting that killed one and injured two others.

Malcolm Whitfield will be north of 100 by the time he completes his sentencing requirements.

He went there with a gun, got mad when someone called him a name and fired into a group of people.

—  Kelley Porter, assistant La Salle County state's attorney

Whitfield stood for sentencing on Tuesday in La Salle County Circuit Court for the murder of Shaquita Kelly and the non-fatal shooting of two others. When offered a chance to speak, he expressed his remorse and asked Chief Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr. for a shot at release when he’s an old man.

“I didn’t want to hurt anybody, the 32-year-old said, turning to the spectator gallery to apologize to his victims. “I’m sorry for what happened to you.

“I certainly have learned my lesson and (would) like to change my ways, my conduct, my self-control.”

Ryan seemed partially persuaded, insofar as he rejected the state’s request for a life sentence.

“I thought about it a lot,” the judge said. “Natural life, I think, is just a little too high.”

But nothing else at Tuesday’s sentencing hearing went Whitfield’s way. The judge quickly ruled out a minimum sentence of 45 years, citing the potential risk to others at the May 6, 2023, shooting – “Bullets are spraying all over the place” – and opted for 60 years for first-degree murder.

Ryan then made a key finding that all but ruled out Whitfield’s chances of walking out of prison alive. Ryan ruled that one of the survivors, Kelly’s 20-year-old daughter, sustained great bodily harm and imposed a 20-year sentence for aggravated battery with a firearm.

That finding requires Whitfield to serve his 60-year murder sentence and 20-year battery charge back-to-back. Whitfield is eligible for just three years off the battery sentence (there is no good time for murder), which means 77 years to be served.

Whitfield had spurned an appeal offer and decided instead to argue self-defense for the 2023 shooting, but a jury was unpersuaded and convicted him of eight felonies led including first-degree murder.

At sentencing, Public Defender Ryan Hamer revived his trial assertions that Whitfield had no ill intentions and acted under provocation – “Malcolm Whitfield had no intention of causing anyone any harm” – and insisted Whitfield was shot at first.

While Whitfield returned fire, Hamer allowed, he fired from a vantage point that precluded taking dead aim at any victims. That Kelly died and others were hurt were due to stray, unlucky shots.

“This was a total fluke,” Hamer said, angling for a sentence that would get Whitfield released in his 70s. “It was a horrible, unfortunate incident.”

But assistant La Salle County state’s attorney Kelley Porter reminded the judge of evidence that the argument and resulting gunfire started from a round of name-calling that sent Whitfield into an unjustified fury.

“He went there with a gun, got mad when someone called him a name and fired into a group of people,” Porter said.

Porter urged Ryan to hand down a deterrent sentence, citing Whitfield’s lack of remorse in the aftermath and his “complete disregard for human life.”