HAMPTON, Va. (WVEC) -- Lecram Sanders, a Hampton man, faces a minimum of 20 years in prison after he ordered a witness expected to testify against Sanders' uncle to be shot.
The 30-year-old was found guilty by a jury of aggravated malicious wounding and other charges related to the April 21, 2015 shooting. Sanders ordered his co-defendant, Derrick Johnson, to shoot a Hampton man who had been assaulted by Sander's uncle, Clyde Boyce.
Boyce had recently been released from prison, where he served time for second-degree murder. Sanders ordered the shooting to prevent Boyce’s victim from testifying against him.
“Sanders ordered the killing of an innocent man just to cover up the crimes of a family member,” Attorney General Herring said in a press release. “People who so casually turn to a gun to solve their problems put entire communities at risk and must be held accountable for the violence they cause and the damage they inflict. I appreciate the hard work of the investigators and prosecutors in my office and the Hampton Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office who all worked to secure this conviction.”
The malicious wounding conviction carries a sentence of twenty years to life in prison. The jury also convicted Sanders of breaking and entering, grand larceny, larceny of a firearm, and possession of a stolen firearm for his role in a March 14, 2015 burglary in which several firearms were stolen.
One of the stolen guns including one that would later be used by co-defendant Johnson when he shot the witness on the orders of Sanders.
Sanders will be sentenced on July 26.
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