Kalamazoo man sentenced to six years in prison for shooting death of the mother of his two children

KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – A man has been sentenced for the 2019 fatal shooting of a community activist and mother of nine in Kalamazoo.

WOOD-TV 8 reports that Friday, Darien Ray Gilleylen was sentenced to 72 months with a 212 day credit for manslaughter statutory short form. He was also sentenced to 730 days with a 730 days credit for felony weapons charges in connection to the death of 33-year-old Shequita Lewis.

On July 15, 2019, Kalamazoo public safety officials say Lewis went to Gilleylen’s Northside home to pick up their child when he shot her in the chest. She later died at a hospital.

Gilleylen reportedly was the father of two of her children.

Shequita Lewis ran for a seat on the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners in 2018, but lost to Michael Seals in a tight election.