WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A man has been sentenced to 22.5 years in prison Thursday after he pleaded guilty to the murder of a Winston-Salem father, according to the district attorney.
Back in 2017, Winston-Salem police said Dontrell Warren was shot outside a home on E. 23rd Street. Six years later, police said they arrested 25-year-old Daquan Ladaris Cates and charged him with murder.
On April 25, the district attorney said Cates pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the killing of Warren on Oct. 18, 2017.
The district attorney said Warren was a new father who was walking up the steps to the family's front porch when he was shot in the back three times by Cates.
Winston-Salem detectives said an investigation showed that Cates walked up to Warren and his friend near E. 23rd St. When Warren and his friend were walking back from the convenience store after picking up snacks, Cates intended to rob them. An eyewitness reported that after Cates demanded Warren give him money, they heard multiple gunshots and screaming.
The District Attorney said it was reported that Warren was shot in the torso and leg before leaving the scene. Cates also admitted to police that he approached Warren and his friend in an attempt to rob them before he fired a gun.
Police said Warren died at a hospital.
Cates received a minimum sentence of two hundred seventy months (22.5 years) and a maximum of three hundred thirty months (27.5 years) of active imprisonment.
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