Pater said 21 years to life, while 22 years shorter than the maximum, still is “a long, long time,” and the sentence is “enough to do justice” for the crimes.
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Tunstall will be 40 years old when he’s eligible for parole, and once released, he must register as a violent offender for 10 years in the county he resides. Tunstall said he plans to live in Butler County.
As Tunstall was led out of the courtroom, several of his supporters in the back of the courtroom yelled: “We love you, Kameron.”
A man sitting in the front row told Tunstall to keep his head high and “not let the system break you.”
Tunstall conspired with a co-defendant, Miquan Hubbard, in the fatal shooting of Jaraius Gilbert Jr., a Wilson Middle School student, on the night of Aug. 29, 2018.
Hubbard pleaded guilty in March to murder with a gun specification. Prosecutors say Hubbard, 19, of Village Street, was the shooter and Tunstall provided him with the gun. Hubbard was sentenced earlier this month to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 16 years.
Tunstall’s aunt and uncle spoke on his behalf before the sentencing. Jasmine Hudson said the man standing near her in an orange Butler County Jail jumpsuit wasn’t the same young man she remembers. She described Tunstall as smart, ambitious and said he wanted to become a doctor.
Like many in the prison system, Tunstall learned there are no “do overs until it’s too late,” his aunt said.
She asked Pater to have “mercy” on her nephew and give him “an opportunity at a second chance at life.”
Tunstall’s attorney Jonathan Fox, told the judge his client had “minimal involvement” in the legal system and was scheduled to graduate from high school before the shooting.
Fox said it all boils down, in the words of Pete Rose, that Tunstall was “a poor picker of friends.”
“He made some choices, some bad choices, that will affect him the majority of his life,” Fox said.
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