Father Of Slain Student Not Satisfied With Shooter's Sentence
WASHINGTON, Pa. (KDKA) -- A local man was sentenced for murdering the son of a local pastor.
Keith Jones, 20, of Monessen, had no comment after he was sentenced 15 to 30 years in prison for the murder of Jeron Xavier Grayson.
Jones pleaded guilty to randomly firing shots into a party at an off-campus apartment at California University of Pennsylvania on Oct. 17, 2010 after he was denied entry.
Grayson, an innocent bystander, was killed. His father, Pastor Glen Grayson, is disappointed with the sentence.
"If you rob a bank, you get 25 years for $100," he said. "When will America put more value on a life?"
Grayson, a freshman at Hampton University, was a great student with a bright future. Before sentencing, his family asked for the maximum penalty saying how their lives have been devastated by the loss.
Jones apologized to the Grayson family and he accepted responsibility for his actions.
Judge Paul Pozonsky refused to impose the maximum sentence, saying Jones was remorseful and cooperative.
Since his son's death, Pastor Grayson adopted the phrase "G" for never touch a gun again. The church recently purchased former Ozanam Cultural Center.
The center will one day be a safe place for children and named after Jeron.
"I don't want to memorialize him in this building, but they need to see that his life was short. They need to see a wonderful beginning and a wonderful history of 18 years and it stops on October 17," Grayson said.
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