Convicted killer in shooting gets 63 years

JORDAN FOUTS, The Elkhart Truth, Ind.
·2 min read

GOSHEN — Sherman Whitener Jr. has received a 63-year sentence for the 2021 murder of Deontae Harrison.

The 24-year-old Elkhart man was convicted in February of killing Harris on July 8, 2021. Jurors took less than an hour to find Whitener guilty of the 28-year-old’s murder, rejecting claims that he opened fire in self-defense.

Whitener was arrested 10 months after the shooting in the 600 block of West Cleveland Avenue. During the trial, jurors watched security camera footage that had captured the shooting and which helped lead investigators to Whitener as a suspect.

Whitener waited for Harris to drive past and shot him multiple times with a handgun that had been converted to automatic fire, Elkhart County Prosecutor Vicki Becker said during the court hearing Thursday.

“Deontae Harris was still alive minutes later when the ambulance got there,” she said. “The defendant allowed him to languish and to move closer to death out on the asphalt in the middle of that street while he took off and fled.”

Harris’ stepfather, Tommy Perry, told the court that his mother, Lena Washington, was absolutely inconsolable after his death. He said it was hard to find the words to convey the impact it had on their close-knit family, many of whom attended the hearing.

“I wish I could,” he said. “I wish I had the right adjective to properly describe the devastation for the family. It’s unbelievable.”

Whitener’s own family also showed for the hearing, just as they had attended every day of the trial, according to attorney Denise Turner. She pushed for a 50-year prison term and pointed to trial testimony that Harris was armed.

Judge Michael Christofeno, Elkhart County Circuit Court, told both families he was under no illusion that the sentence he was handing down would bring them any real peace of mind. He told Whitener there were very few mitigating factors that would subtract from a prison term close to the 65-year maximum.

Whitener expressed remorse for Harris’ family, because he said they were associates, but he maintained that he acted in self-defense. He said the justice system is unfair to people in his position.

“I feel like I was judged before I sat down. I was simply defending myself. I was in imminent danger and it was the only way to save my life,” he said. “The justice system is failing people who (argue self-defense). ... There’s an epidemic in Elkhart and there needs to be change.”