Former Western Michigan guard Joeviair Kennedy was sentenced this week to 17½ years in prison for his role in a 2016 robbery that led to the fatal shooting of another WMU student.
Kennedy, now 21, was a member of the Western Michigan team at the time of the crime. He was in the midst of his first year with the Broncos but was suspended by the university and did not play for the team again after the incident, ending his college career after only eight games.
In 2016, Kennedy was charged with murder for the death of the victim, Jacob Jones. In June, he was found not guilty of the murder charge, but faces prison time for being found guilty of armed robbery and felony firearm charges, according to MLive.com.
According to investigators in the case, Kennedy arranged the robbery that ultimately led to Jones' death by arranging to meet with him to buy marijuana. Kennedy requested a larger amount of marijuana shortly thereafter, and minutes later, both he and Jordan Waire, the co-defendant in the case, busted into Jones' apartment. Waire then hit Jones in the face with his gun and it fired, killing him.
Waire has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
