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Left: Isiah Martin (Instagram). Right: Larry “Trae” Marshall III (GoFundMe).
A man from Washington state has been sentenced to over sixty years in prison for instigating two teenagers to kill a 16-year-old boy as revenge for a robbery he was not involved in.
On Friday, Isiah Davon Martin, aged 31, received nearly 61 years behind bars for the fatal shooting of 16-year-old Larry “Trae” Marshall III in 2023, according to the Tacoma News Tribune report. A jury convicted Martin in June of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree, and second-degree murder, as indicated by court records.
Prosecutors in a sentencing memorandum detailed that the incident unfolded four days prior to the murder — on March 25, 2023 — when Martin was robbed at a local mall. He then enlisted Davonte J. Pool and Vincent L. Bradley III, both 17 and 16 at the time, to execute his plan. In the days preceding the murder, the defendants visited Lakeside Landing Apartments in Tacoma “searching for a suitable target,” as noted in the memorandum.
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Shortly after 1 p.m. on March 29, 2023, the suspects were driving to the complex when they spotted Trae, who did not rob Martin but was friends with the people who did, per prosecutors. Trae was walking to the complex to see his buddies. Martin, who was driving, did a U-turn, and parked his car. When Trae walked through the gate, he told Pool and Bradley to get out of the car and start shooting. Pool and Bradley fired a total of 33 rounds at Trae before getting back into Matin”s car and driving away, the memo said.
“The three killed Trae, a 16-year-old boy, who appears to have had nothing to do with Defendant’s robbery,” prosecutors wrote. “Instead, Trae only wronged Defendant by claiming to be associated with the kids who had robbed Defendant and by making fun of Defendant online. That was all it took for Defendant to set up an ambush in the middle of a weekday and have his co-conspirators indiscriminately gun Trae down.”
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Martin, who was paralyzed in a shooting about 10 years ago, testified at his trial, claiming Pool and Bradley acted on their own and made a “spit second” decision.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Philip Sorensen noted during the sentencing that Martin was the lone adult in the car but did not act like one.
“This community needs adults that will help kids see right from wrong, that will help kids do what needs to be done to keep themselves and this community safe,” Sorensen said, per the News Tribune. “To me, this is the worst kind of betrayal to this community that we could have.”
Added prosecutor Brad Hashimoto: “Mr. Martin was the only adult in that vehicle, and he’s the only person in that vehicle with motive. He led these kids to do something terrible.”
Pool and Bradley were previously convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Family posted a tribute to Trae on a GoFundMe page.
“Trae was smart, funny, charismatic, and an amazing athlete. And yet, he was so much more than words could describe,” the page said.