Role in shooting leads to prison

Deondre R. Cush asked for forgiveness before he was sentenced Friday for his role in the Feb. 11 shooting death of Antonio Sims in St. Paul.

"I just want to say I'm sorry for your loss," he told the court as Sims' mother and aunt looked on.

Ramsey County District Judge Robert A. Awsumb sentenced the 23-year-old Cush to 39 months in prison. He will serve at least 26 months before he is eligible for release. "You've got to live with what you did," the judge told Cush. "Unfortunately they've got to live with what they've lost."

Sims, 20, was killed in the parking lot of JJ's Fish & Chicken on University Avenue. According to the criminal complaint, he had climbed into the back seat of a car carrying three men. He handed a bag of marijuana to a front-seat passenger -- Cush -- who handed it back. Mychel A. Stowers then shot Sims twice. Stowers then handed the gun to Cush, who hid it in the snow, the complaint said.

A statement written by Sims' mother, Latricia Collins, was read before the sentencing. It said in part: "Antonio was polite and caring. He would even tell me thank you for what were my motherly duties. ... He was 18 when he started working two jobs. ... He was 19 when he started selling $10 and $20 bags of marijuana."

But according to the statement, Sims told his mother not long before his death: "I'm sick of selling drugs. Can you help me find a job?" He had a job interview scheduled the week after his death, it said.

Stowers, 20, pleaded guilty to intentional second-degree murder and was sentenced last week to 25 1/2 years in prison.

Edward L. Grayson, 21, who was driving the car that night and has pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, will be sentenced Aug. 28.

PAT PHEIFER