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Suspect accepts 33-60 year deal in murder of Detroit firefighter

Published  May 20, 2019 2:18pm EDT
News
FOX 2 Detroit

(FOX 2) - A 19-year-old man will be spend at least the next three decades in prison after taking the weekend to consider a plea deal - which he accepted.

Ardonez Carter faced a Detroit judge once last week to discuss a possible plea deal after being charged with six counts, including first-degree murder, felony murder and arson, for the brutal attack of 29-year-old Detroit firefighter Jack Wiley Jr. inside his home on the city's west side last August. Jack was killed 10 days before his 30th birthday.

"His mother can't cry anymore. She is running out of tears. She's hurting so bad," said Verdine Day of the Detroit Firefighters Association Local 344.

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Carter was just 18-years-old when prosecutors say he and Shomari Walker, also 18 at the time, robbed, tortured and killed Wiley, then torched what they stole to hide the evidence. 

Family and friends say Wiley had been trying to help Carter.

"Jack helped him while he was a squatter across the street, gave him an opportunity to try to make money and he could've still been doing that," Day said.

Carter could have been sentenced to automatic life without the possibility of parole if convicted of first-degree murder. Prosecutors are offered the plea of 33 to 60 years, plus two years for felony firearm, which Carter initially rejected until Thursday.

A judge in the case gave him a chance to reconsider that rejection last week.

"I understand that every time the family comes here, in some ways it is re-traumatizing them, but the reality is that this is a 19-year-old man," the judge said.

The judge allowed Carter to take the weekend and speak with his family. By taking the deal, he'll be eligible for parole when he's in his 50s.

"You didn't take pity on him so why should I take pity on you? No. He deserves every year he ends up sitting in prison. Every year and some," said Wiley's God sister, MaLinda Hall.