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http://www.local6.com/news/5585353/detail.html
BELLE GLADE, Fla. -- A Belle Glade man will serve a 40-year prison sentence for robbing and beating elderly victims.
Lavar Kellam has pleaded guilty to 53 felonies, including second-degree murder.
The state attorney's office said he was involved in a brutal crime spree during which he and a friend beat and robbed Palm Beach County seniors.
His attorney describes him as being "borderline retarded."
Kellam was accused along with Gilbert Miller of attacking a man in a Lantana parking lot on Feb. 10, 2001. The victim suffered head injuries, was partially paralyzed and blind in one eye. He died ten months later in a nursing home.
The two men were also accused of breaking a 67-year-old Jupiter
r
man's jaw and stealing a 57-year-old Lantana woman's purse.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/con...ellam_1220.html
Belle Glade man gets 40 years after plea deal on lesser murder charge
By Larry Keller
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
WEST PALM BEACH --Once looking at a possible death sentence, Lavar Kellam was sentenced to 40 years in prison Monday after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and 52 other felony charges. With credit for the nearly five years he has been in jail, Kellam 24, could be released before his 60th birthday, even if he serves his full sentence.
Kellam and another Belle Glade man, Gilbert Miller, 23, were charged with first-degree murder in the death of Eino Nepponen, 84, plus other charges stemming from a series of robberies, car thefts and muggings in 2001. Miller&#
39;
s cases are pending. His attorney says he plans to go to trial.
"It was a two-month terror spree that culminated in a murde
r," prosecutor Darren Shull said. "It appears most of the victims were elderly. They don't fight back."
Prosecutors dismissed two felonies and one misdemeanor as part of Kellam's plea bargain. He is not required to testify against Miller.
Nepponen was monitoring the parking lot at the Finland House social club in Lake Worth in February 2001 when Kellam punched him, knocking him to the ground. He was robbed of about $25. After Nepponen died nearly 10 months later, prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty against Kellam and Miller.
The prosecutor on the murder charge, Aleathea McRoberts, said Monday that she was confident she could have proved that Nepponen died as a result of the attack. "His demise began the moment he hit the ground," she said.
But even before Monday's plea deal, the stat
e had w
aived the death penalty. One reason is Kellam's mental limitations, she said. Records show that Kellam was enrolled in special education classes while in school, McRoberts said.
One of his lawyers said that Kellam is borderline retarded with an IQ of 68. He has a ninth-grade education.
"We had some arguable issues that the defense had raised," McRoberts said. "Historically, it's the type of resolution that's beneficial to everybody."
http://www.local6.com/news/5585353/detail.html
BELLE GLADE, Fla. -- A Belle Glade man will serve a 40-year prison sentence for robbing and beating elderly victims.
Lavar Kellam has pleaded guilty to 53 felonies, including second-degree murder.
The state attorney's office said he was involved in a brutal crime spree during which he and a friend beat and robbed Palm Beach County seniors.
His attorney describes him as being "borderline retarded."
Kellam was accused along with Gilbert Miller of attacking a man in a Lantana parking lot on Feb. 10, 2001. The victim suffered head injuries, was partially paralyzed and blind in one eye. He died ten months later in a nursing home.
The two men were also accused of breaking a 67-year-old Jupiter
r
man's jaw and stealing a 57-year-old Lantana woman's purse.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/con...ellam_1220.html
Belle Glade man gets 40 years after plea deal on lesser murder charge
By Larry Keller
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
WEST PALM BEACH --Once looking at a possible death sentence, Lavar Kellam was sentenced to 40 years in prison Monday after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and 52 other felony charges. With credit for the nearly five years he has been in jail, Kellam 24, could be released before his 60th birthday, even if he serves his full sentence.
Kellam and another Belle Glade man, Gilbert Miller, 23, were charged with first-degree murder in the death of Eino Nepponen, 84, plus other charges stemming from a series of robberies, car thefts and muggings in 2001. Miller&#
39;
s cases are pending. His attorney says he plans to go to trial.
"It was a two-month terror spree that culminated in a murde
r," prosecutor Darren Shull said. "It appears most of the victims were elderly. They don't fight back."
Prosecutors dismissed two felonies and one misdemeanor as part of Kellam's plea bargain. He is not required to testify against Miller.
Nepponen was monitoring the parking lot at the Finland House social club in Lake Worth in February 2001 when Kellam punched him, knocking him to the ground. He was robbed of about $25. After Nepponen died nearly 10 months later, prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty against Kellam and Miller.
The prosecutor on the murder charge, Aleathea McRoberts, said Monday that she was confident she could have proved that Nepponen died as a result of the attack. "His demise began the moment he hit the ground," she said.
But even before Monday's plea deal, the stat
e had w
aived the death penalty. One reason is Kellam's mental limitations, she said. Records show that Kellam was enrolled in special education classes while in school, McRoberts said.
One of his lawyers said that Kellam is borderline retarded with an IQ of 68. He has a ninth-grade education.
"We had some arguable issues that the defense had raised," McRoberts said. "Historically, it's the type of resolution that's beneficial to everybody."