Coronavirus
Shavonte Thompson sentencing delayed because of COVID diagnosis in prison
COVID-19 has delayed the sentencing for a La Crosse man who was convicted of 1st degree murder in a 2019 shooting death.
La Crosse court officials tell us that Shavonte Thompson has tested positive for COVID at a prison in Green Bay where he’s being held. As a result, Thompson would not be allowed out of his cell to take part in a Zoom call to be sentenced in the murder of Javier Ayers.
The sentencing was set for this Thursday, but it has now been taken off the court calendar and will be rescheduled. A La Crosse jury convicted Thompson of 1st-degree homicide at a trial in November.
Jurors concluded that Thompson was the gunman seen in a security video who got out of a car near Copeland Avenue, shot the 18-year-old Ayers, and quickly returned to the car and rode away. The shooting reportedly was in retribution for an attack on Thompson’s relatives.