Man sent to prison for firing 19 bullets into sleeping baby's room

Man sent to prison for firing 19 bullets into sleeping baby's room

(Salt Lake County Jail)


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SALT LAKE CITY — Despite making impressive strides in jail and promises he would never return to gang life, a judge on Friday said the young man's crimes were so heinous he had to send him to prison.

In July 2015, Tyrel Maleek Foreman, who was 19 at the time, and two others tracked down a 16-year-old boy in a rival gang and shot him in the leg as he ran away. Two days later, they opened fire on an apartment where they believed another gang member lived, but instead sent 19 bullets into a sleeping baby's bedroom.

The 11-month-old girl was saved because her crib was pressed against the wall beneath a window, shielded by a section of exterior brick.

"These crimes are so heinous, so outrageous," 3rd District Judge Keith Kelly said Friday. "By the account that's been given to me, if that baby had stood up we would have a dead baby."

Foreman, of West Jordan, was charged with 29 second-degree felony counts of discharge of a firearm — one for every shell casing recovered at the scene — following the July 21 drive-by shooting. He pleaded guilty in January to two of those charges while the rest were dismissed as part of a plea deal, as was another count for the shooting of the 16-year-old.

Kelly sentenced Foreman to two concurrent sentences of one to 15 years in prison for the drive-by shooting, while a term of three to 15 years with a gang enhancement will run consecutively.

At a sentencing hearing earlier this month, Foreman, now 20, swore a "solemn oath" to his attorney and the judge promising to eschew gang life forever. At the time of his arrest, the Metro Gang Unit listed Foreman, aka "Lucky Loc," as one of its top 10 most wanted fugitives.

"I would like to say I'm accountable. I know what I did was wrong. I can't believe I was involved in something so stupid," Foreman said.

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His attorney, Larry Long, urged the judge to consider jail time and probation for Foreman. Long asked the judge Friday to give the 20-year-old a chance, praising his improvement so far in jail.

Since his arrest, Foreman earned his GED and helped tutor other inmates. He also graduated from three 12-step programs and put together a plan to continue studying and pursue a career.

"(Foreman) is willing to turn his life around," Long said, putting his arm around the shackled inmate and asking the judge to take a chance on him.

At the hearing earlier this month, prosecutor Clint Heiner called Foreman's crimes "one of the most egregious cases that has come across my desk."

"The mere fact that several innocent individual's lives could have been taken, I think shows that the court needs to pause and seriously look at protecting the community," Heiner said. "When you almost kill an 11-month-old and a 2-year-old, and then you shoot another human being, it warrants prison."

As he handed down the sentence, Kelly told Foreman he hopes he will keep his promise to leave the gang.

"I hope, Mr. Foreman, that what you say is true — that you go forward and do something with your life, that you put these kinds of heinous crimes behind you," the judge said. Email: mromero@deseretnews.com Twitter: McKenzieRomero

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