16 year old Kentucky boy shot by man with many parole violations

One wonders some days how so many people who shouldn't have guns have them anyway. Such is the case of this shooting in Kentucky of a 16 year old boy by a man who got probation and not jail time. From the article:

Hayes has been given several chances to get his act together over the years, including being sentenced to probation rather than prison time in both of those cases, according to court documents. Even when he violated the terms of his probation by testing positive for drugs and threatening a probation officer, judges altered the terms of his probation so he could avoid jail time.

Now, Hayes, 21, is charged with murder in the death of Chaz A. Black, 16. Black — a popular student who had once served as the Blue Devil mascot at a Henry Clay basketball game — was shot to death in an apartment on Palumbo Drive on Sunday. Hayes was serving probation for the two felony convictions at the time of Sunday's shooting.

He pleaded not guilty at an arraignment Tuesday. He declined to speak with reporters, a Fayette County Detention Center spokeswoman said.

Despite his history of conflicts involving guns, according to court records, Hayes' friends and family members have written about two dozen letters to judges in Hayes' two previous felony cases, saying he was a troubled young man who "learned his lesson" each time he was arrested and subsequently released on probation.Some of the letters were signed by more than 100 people.

But judges over the past few years seemed to believe what friends and family said about Hayes:

Throughout the years of court proceedings, family members and friends wrote 23 letters to judges defending Hayes, suggesting he was bipolar, depressed and had suffered from chronic pain from a basketball injury, which led to drug use.

"Deionta isn't a violent person and is not a danger to the community," a letter from family member Crystal Burnett said. "He is a young man that is crying out for help, and I think that if you give him another chance then you will be able to see what a good person he is."

Letters said Hayes was guilty of hanging out with the wrong people. A letter from his mother, Sherylena Burnett, said Hayes got in trouble because of conflicts with "westside boys."

It turns out that Hayes was actually a "danger to the community" and now a 16 year old is dead.