, Larkin was sentenced to 12 years on the murder charge and five years on the weapon charge, which will be served concurrently. (Credit: STMW)
JOLIET, Ill. (STMW) — Orsbey T. Larkin survived a shooting that killed two of his friends in the summer of 2011.
Now Larkin, 25, is heading to prison for 12 years for shooting Corey Kelly, 29, to death in an unrelated incident in October 2011.
Larkin pleaded guilty Thursday morning before Will County Judge Sarah Jones to charges of second-degree murder and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon.
In exchange, Larkin was sentenced to 12 years on the murder charge and five years on the weapon charge, which will be served concurrently.
The evening of Oct. 8, 2011, Joliet police heard gunshots near the guardrail on Fairmont Avenue, which separates the city from unincorporated Lockport Township.
Responding Will County sheriff’s deputies found Kelly, who had been shot five times, lying in the 1600 block of Englewood Avenue.
Kelly was taken to Silver Cross Hospital in Joliet, then transferred to Loyola Medical Center in Maywood where he died about a month later.
Authorities said investigators began to focus on Larkin as a suspect after learning he and Kelly were involved in a dispute over money owed for drugs..
Members of Larkin’s family left immediately after Larkin entered his plea and declined to comment.
Kelly’s family members said they thought the sentence was not fair.
Authorities have said the Kelly shooting was not connected with the ambush three months earlier that left two of Larkin’s acquaintances dead.
Larkin was in a car July 20, 2011, with Grover D. Barefield, 25, and Keyshawna Y. Waits, 20, parked outside Trinity Services, 600 Adella Ave., in Joliet Township. While the trio waited to pick up Waits’ sister from work, an unknown gunman walked up and fired several shots into the car.
Grover Barefield died that night, while Waits died two weeks later. Larkin received minor wounds and was released from the hospital a few hours later. Detectives reported he was “uncooperative” throughout the investigation.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
