CINCINNATI – A judge sentenced a 20-year-old man Thursday to 18 years in prison for the death of his friend.
Shawn Allen was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and other crimes in the shooting death of Gerald “Jeremy” Hummer in Westwood last February.
Police found Hummer dead inside a pickup truck with a gunshot wound to the left side of his chest.
Before he was arrested, Allen attended a vigil for Hummer, crying and shaking hands with Hummer’s friends and family.
Hummer and Allen were friends since school, had played a club sport together and wrote music together.
Hummer’s family members were surprised to learn that Allen was involved. They attended the hearing Thursday.
“I can’t believe this happened to him,” Hummer’s father, Jerry Hummer, said. “Shawn was his friend.”
Prosecutors said Allen concocted a plan to rob Hummer earlier that day. Allen knew his friend had been shot, but did nothing to help him or alert authorities. Hummer was left dead in the truck for 12 hours before he was found.
Allen’s defense lawyers argued that Hummer was equally guilty in drug deal gone wrong that he had agreed to.
A second man, 20-year-old Aubre Weathersby, was also charged in Hummer’s death. He was still being held in the Hamilton County jail.
