ALLEGAN COUNTY – A teenager who prosecutors determined accidentally shot and killed an acquaintance in a Holland apartment in January was sentenced in Allegan County Circuit Court today, which led to a scuffle just outside the courtroom leading into a hallway Monday.
18-year-old Davon Walker will serve 57 months to 15 years in prison for the shooting death of 22-year-old Derrick Ruff-Shingles.
Investigators found Walker was playing with a loaded .357 handgun when Ruff-Shingles was shot and killed.
Walker turned himself into authorities a few days following the shooting on January 5th.
The victim’s family from Chicago showed up to protest the manslaughter charge against Walker during a hearing in the case in late March, feeling Walker should have been charged with murder.
“Friends don’t shoot friends,” said Lisa Ruff, mother of the Derrick D’Andre Ruff-Shingles said on March 30. “Friends do not run from the crime scene. I mean, he wasn’t even charged with unlawful use of a weapon, nor was he charged with fleeing the scene. I’m trying to figure out, where’s the justice?”
Authorities say a scuffle took place in an area that leads from the courtroom to a hallway following today’s sentencing with a report someone spit on another person, leading to a punch being thrown.
Authorities say police separated the families following the disturbance and escorted them to their vehicles. No arrests were made, thought police interviewed the parties involved and are sending a report to the prosecutor.
