ST. LOUIS — The man charged in connection to a murder at Ballpark Village in 2018 was sentenced to four years in prison after he pleaded guilty Monday.
The victim’s family said justice wasn’t served.
Scotty Joseph Lee was charged with murder and first-degree assault, but he took a plea deal for involuntary manslaughter and second-degree assault. He also pleaded guilty to armed criminal action.
A spokeswoman for the circuit attorney's office said the murder charge was amended to involuntary manslaughter and the assault charge was amended to second-degree assault. He pleaded guilty to all the charges and will serve four years in the Missouri Department of Corrections.
Corey Hall was shot and killed while celebrating his 38th birthday at Ballpark Village. Friends described Hall as a family man and an entrepreneur, who always wanted to help others.
He’d just gotten married two weeks before, so he, his friends and his brother went to Ballpark Village.
"I have never seen him that happy before in life,” his brother, Chris Bradley, said.
But Corey never made it home. Chris remembers the sound of gunshots.
"Everybody got down. We hit the ground, and as I was coming up going to the exit, going for the exit, I looked and I saw him laying on the ground,” he said.
Chris said his phone wasn’t working, so he went into Corey's pocket to get his.
"I put his fingerprint on his phone to open it up to call 911,” Chris said.
More than a year later, Chris was in Judge Paula Perkins Bryant’s courtroom Monday as Corey's killer was sentenced.
He was sentenced to four years in prison.
"Nobody can wrap their mind around that. The lawyers, nobody can believe it,” Chris said.
Chris told 5 On Your Side he doesn't forgive Scotty.
"He had a smirk on his face. He was asked by the judge if he had anything that he would like to say. He had nothing to say,” Chris said.
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