Norfolk father angry after daughter’s killer sentenced as part of plea agreement

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — The man convicted of killing an innocent bystander as he was aiming for someone else was convicted Friday, and the victim’s father says the sentence did not go far enough.

Norfolk Judge Jerrauld Jones sentenced Deiontrae Bates, 24, to 26 years of active prison time in the July 2018 shooting death of Dejana Leary on 28th Street. The sentence followed a plea agreement reached last summer that called for 24 years on the second-degree murder charge.

Jones added two more years for probation violations associated with the crime. It happened 30 days after Bates had been released from prison on an earlier conviction for armed robbery. According to Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi, the plea agreement covered only the homicide charge, and was above the midpoint of the Virginia sentencing guidelines for Bates.

The victim’s father, Jose Leary, said the sentencing did not go far enough.

“For [Bates] to get a slap on the wrist like that, it’s just wrong. They need to start laying the law down on these senseless acts,” he told 10 On Your Side outside the courthouse.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Anthony Comento described how Bates began shooting at a man he believed to have slept with the mother of his child. Bates kept shooting when the man he was pursuing got into a car, and the bullets killed Dejana Leary, who was in the car and had nothing to do with the dispute.

Fatehi provided this statement regarding the sentencing:

“Deiontrae Bates killed an innocent girl. He has left her family with unbearable pain and loss, and we grieve with them. We have held Mr. Bates accountable. He will spend over a quarter of a century in prison. Our office will continue to focus tirelessly on holding accountable the people who kill our neighbors and our children.”