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Dustin Osborne is one of two people charged with murder in the fatal shooting of Ralph Michael Lopez, 34, on the South Side.
Dustin Osborne is one of two people charged with murder in the fatal shooting of Ralph Michael Lopez, 34, on the South Side.
Dustin Lee Osborne, convicted of murder in the 2014 shooting death of his friend, was handed a sentence of 80 years in prison and a $10,000 fine Friday.
Earlier in the day, his new wife wept in the courtroom as prosecutor Josh Somers told the jury that the 20-year-old killer is a drug dealer, liar and manipulator.
With the murder weapon sitting in front of the jury, Somers said: “When you carry guns, threaten people and murder someone, it’s not a mistake. It’s who you are. Today you get a chance to protect us from him by sending him to prison for life.”
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Osborne, now 20 and an admitted drug dealer, was convicted this week of shooting Ralph Michael Lopez, 34, on Aug. 11, 2014, in the driveway of Lopez’s South Side home, after what witnesses testified was a brief argument.
State District Judge Jefferson Moore instructed the jury that they could consider whether “sudden passion” was a mitigating factor in the murder, which would have reduced the crime to a second degree felony that carries a 2- to 20-year range of sentence.
But the jury issued no finding of sudden passion, which left the crime as a first degree felony, punishable by a term of 5 to 99 years in prison.
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Court-appointed defense attorney Patrick Hancock told the jury his client had acted in self-defense and was so neglected as a child that he was destined to be a criminal.
“Dustin never had a chance,” Hancock said. “He never had nurturing parents. His dad was in and out of prison. He dropped out of high school in 2014. He’s a product of this street culture.
“He’s going to prison. He knows that,” Hancock said. “But he should be punished in a fair and just manner.”
After listening to both sides, the jury began deliberated about six hours before deciding on the sentence.
bselcraig@express-news.net
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