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Wednesday, June 19, 2013 | 8:18 p.m.

Posted: 9:48 p.m. Monday, Jan. 14, 2013

Family of Johnstown murder victim upset with jury's verdict

By Maria Miller

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. —


The trial for two men accused of gunning down another man in October of 2011 came to an end late Monday afternoon.

Marquis Neal and Anthony Harvey were found guilty in the death of J'Qquan Lewis. But the degree of their convictions stunned the family and prosecution.

"Not good enough . They didn't give him the death sentence and they didn't give him life," Lewis' mom told 6 News just minutes after the verdict. "Murder three, are you kidding me?"

"They know that their loved one was gunned down from behind and then the shooter stood over him and shot him in the head, so to hear to any kind of a verdict that's less than a first-degree murder was crushing to them," said Assistant Cambria County District Attorney Tammy Bernstein.

Prosecutors said Neal shot at Lewis six to seven times in the Oakhurst Homes parking lot in October 2011. Three of those shots entered his body, the third being a fatal shot to the head.

It took a jury of seven women and five men a little more than three hours to reach their verdict. Neal was found guilty of murder of the third degree.

"We thought we had a strong case for first-degree murder," said Cambria County District Attorney Kelly Callihan. "But at the end of the day, it's the jury's decision."

"I think he's more concerned and happy that he did not receive a first-degree murder case," said Neals' defense attorney, Robert Gleason, Sr.

Prosecutors said Harvey was Neals' accomplice and drove the getaway car. The jury found him guilty of voluntary manslaughter.

"It's different ... Under the circumstances of this case," said Harvey's defense attorney Jerome Kaharick. "But the jury decided what they decided and that's' the system we live by. "

Neal faces a maximum of 20-40 years in prison. Harvey faces 10-20 years in prison. They are both sentences that Lewis' mother said do not serve her son justice.

"I'm sentenced to life. That's what I'm sentenced to," she said. "They killed my son. I'm 50. I go home with nothing. I'm not pleased."

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