After an extensive trial, Antoine Suggs, 40, was sentenced to 103 years in prison on Monday as retribution for the fatal shootings of four people found inside a Mercedes Benz SUV in a Wisconsin cornfield on September 12, 2021.
The victims of Suggs’ cruel and inhumane act of violence were identified as Jasmine Sturm, 30; her brother, Matthew Pettus, 26; her boyfriend, Loyace Foreman III, 35; and her friend, Nitosha Flug-Presley, 30. In April, Suggs was convicted of four counts of second-degree murder.
At the sentencing hearing, the devastating losses that the victims’ families had faced were made clear. Angela Sturm, the mother of Sturm and Pettus, shared a sentiment of forever-abiding sorrow. “Not a day goes by that I don’t cry,” she said. “Being alone with my thoughts is very hard. I miss their voices. I have this irrational fear that I will forget what they look and sound like.”
Loyace Foreman’s father described the harshness of the situation, noting that the four lives were taken while Suggs still had his. For his part, Suggs declared himself the victim, alleging that the deceased was attempting to rob him and he was acting in self-defense. The judge presiding over the case, JaPaul Harris, responded that while the families may never know the true motive, Suggs must assume full responsibility for the consequence of his actions.
According to a criminal complaint, the incident began with an argument in a St. Paul bar. Following this, surveillance footage showed evidence of Suggs killing the four victims sometime between 3:30 and 3:48 a.m. on September 12.
Additionally, it was revealed that Suggs’ told his father, Darren Lee McWright, that he had “snapped” before killing the four victims. McWright was accused of driving Suggs’ to Minnesota from Wisconsin in the aftermath, for which he later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison.