The family of Marquise Byrd, who died after a set of teens threw a sandbag from an Ohio bridge, is distraught after learning the teens won’t serve jail time, Inside Edition reports.
The group, made up of 13- and 14-year-olds, dropped the sandbag from an overpass onto Interstate 75 in December, striking the 22-year-old, who’s from Michigan. Byrd died three days later.
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The four boys previous pleaded guilty to charges of murder, manslaughter and vehicular vandalism in juvenile court. They have been sentenced to a youth treatment center for at least eight months.
The boys also apologized in court to the victim’s family, but the family’s attorney, Lillian Diallo, expressed her disapproval for the outcome following the hearing.
“What madness is this? Where we don’t have to take responsibility for whatever age we are? What is this?” Diallo asked.
Byrd’s mother, Patricia Wilkes, pointed out that she’ll never be able to see her son again.
“This incident has disrupted my entire life, my entire family,” Wilkes told the Toledo Blade. “Now, my life is in shambles. For one, every day I wake up and I go to sleep thinking about my son lying there in that hospital bed.”
The victim was engaged at the time of his death and also leaves behind a 2-year-old son.
Byrd’s death was very similar to that of another Michigan man, 32-year-old Kenneth White, who died after five teenagers threw several rocks off Interstate 75 in October.
In that case, the five boys were charged with second-degree murder and will be tried as adults.
