Staff Report

ROCKFORD – A Rockford teen just months from his 18th birthday was sentenced to a total of 31 years in prison after pleading guilty to murder.

Coley Dewayne Carwell, 17, was arrested last year in connection with the 2016 shooting death of 14-year-old Jamario Crawford, of Rockford.

Carwell pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and aggravated battery in April as part of a plea agreement. He was sentenced Tuesday by Judge Rosemary Collins.

Crawrod was gunned down Nov. 11, 2016, when he and 17-year-old Lontrell Brantley were walking in the 900 block of North Rockton Ave. Brantley was shot in the arm and later identified Coley Carwell as the gunman.

First-degree murder is a Class M felony punishable by 20 to 60 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections followed by three years of mandatory supervised release. Carwell was sentenced to 25 years for murder and six years for aggravated battery with a firearm, a Class X felony with a sentencing range of six to 30 years in prison. The sentences will run consecutively. R.