A former Golder College Prep student was sentenced this week to 62 years in prison for the January 2022 murder of a high school student who was shot near campus as students were leaving that day.
A jury convicted 22-year-old Tremell Neloms last summer, and his lawyers argued that his sentence should not exceed 40 years because he was a minor at the time of the shooting and “children are different from adults.” Neloms came of age on his 18th birthday, 16 days after the murder. But Judge Tyria Walton sentenced Neloms to much more than 40 years on Thursday, sentencing him to 50 years for the murder of 15-year-old Caleb Westbrooks and another 12 years for the attempted murder of three bystanders.
After being dismissed from school early on January 18, 2022, Westbrooks walked to Golder to meet friends, but a staff member told the group to leave the school grounds and wait across the street.
Around 1 p.m., Neloms left Golder’s class and walked through the group several times, prosecutors said. Video provided to CWB Chicago showed Neloms approaching Westbrooks at the mouth of an alley in the 800 block of North Greenview Avenue. Prosecutors said Neloms asked Westbrooks a question while other members of the group lingered nearby.
Neloms turned and walked a few yards, then returned to Westbrooks, who appeared to be smiling. Neloms then opened fire, hitting Westbrooks, who ran off camera. The other members of the group also fled for safety, and Neloms was seen shooting at people running toward Golder out of camera range. None were injured, but Westbrooks died later that day.
The following version of the video ends immediately before the recording takes place:
Prosecutors initially alleged that Neloms announced a robbery when he returned to confront Westbrooks and that, after Westbrooks asked who he planned to rob, Neloms shot him in the stomach, arm and chest. But records show the jury acquitted Neloms of the theft charge.
Neloms had no criminal background at the time of the shooting.
Westbrooks’ father, Corneal, brought one written statement after the killing, he said his son was “a smart, vibrant and athletic teenager looking forward to a bright future with goals and dreams that will now remain unfulfilled.”
“Unfortunately, this senseless violence will likely continue unabated until the elected and appointed leaders of the city and county stop pointing fingers at each other and take personal responsibility for the role they have played in the disintegration of the criminal justice system, as well as the lack of critical mental health care in Chicago and Cook County.”
Because Neloms was under 18 years old at the time of the crime, state law allows him to apply for parole after 20 years. If parole is denied, he will have to wait at least 10 years before he can apply for a second and final review.
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