Another Life Sentence in Teen Murder Case

A teen who participated in events surrounding the shooting death of a Salina South High School student back in May of 2015 received a life sentence Friday afternoon in Saline County District Court.

Judge Rene Young sentenced 18-year-old Andrew Woodring to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years. He was also sentenced to pay $7,452.42 in restitution and fees, some of which will be divided among the other four defendants in the case.

Woodring had previously pled no contest to felony murder.

Woodring who was 17-years-old at the time he committed the crime, was prosecuted as an adult. After agreeing to the felony murder plea he had unsuccessfully tried to withdraw it.

The case involved the death of 17-year-old Allie Saum.

Prior to the sentencing Allie Saum’s aunt Jennifer Stevens spoke. Like she had while speaking at sentencings of three others involved in the case, Stevens said that nothing will bring Allie back, but also spoke about forgiveness. She referenced bible scripture. Romans 12:21 – “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Two other men in the case were found guilty following trials.

23-year-old Maceo Palacio, the man who fired the fatal shot, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 50 years for First Degree Murder conviction . Palacio was also sentenced for other crimes, including:

234 months for Attempted First Degree Murder
59 months for Shooting at an Occupied Vehicle
6 months for Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Battery

20-year-old Stephen Gentry was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years for a First Degree Murder conviction. Gentry was the instigator in a plot to seek revenge, after being punched in a previous incident. He gathered a group of people together, ultimately misdentified a truck, and instructed Palacio to fire shots at it. Gentry was also sentenced for other crimes including:

253 months for Attempted First Degree Murder
59 months for Shooting at an Occupied Vehicle
6 months for Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Battery

20-year-old Daniel Sims pled to charges that include Involuntary Manslaughter and Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Battery. He also cooperated with police, and testified against other co-defendants in the case. He was sentenced to a total of 50 months in prison, or a little over 4 years.

A fifth defendant, 20-year-old Jerome Forbes pled no contest to three charges. The charges include:

Involuntary Manslaughter
Felony Obstruction
Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Battery

Forbes was also scheduled to be sentenced Friday. Instead, it was rescheduled for October because of a question about his criminal history involving a felony conviction in Montgomery County.

Allie Saum was shot and killed on May 6th, 2015. Shots were fired at a truck as it drove eastbound in the 500 block of Russell.

The truck was misidentified as being connected to an earlier altercation. Saum was a passenger in the truck, and was hit by one of five shots that were fired.