KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — A Kalamazoo Man has cut a deal with prosecutors to avoid facing a jury and risking getting life for the shooting death of 23-year-old Tykarri Lucas.
Police claim that the two had a dispute that turned into a fistfight outside J & B Discount Liquor in the Edison Neighborhood in mid-September.
A gun was pulled and Lucas was shot to death.
Jerome O’Day was identified and quickly tracked to Wyoming in Kent County where he was arrested.
Lucas was from Benton Harbor, and a key witness in a murder trial in that community. A brief investigation was conducted to determine if that might have been a factor in his death, but apparently it was not.
O’Day’s plea deal calls for the 28-year-old to plead guilty to Second Degree Murder and a gun felony. In exchange the prosecution will drop three other charges and agree to a 28-year to life sentence. He will serve an additional two years for using a gun to commit a crime.
Apparently the killing was caught on the video surveillance system at the Liquor Store and it was clearly not a case of self-defense.
