Teen shot at Louisville bus stop dies; two 15-year-olds convicted, sentenced

Tyree Leshawn Smith, 16, was shot at a Louisville, KY bus stop in 2021 and called his mother with his dying words. Two teen gunmen were convicted of murder.

Louisville Teen Shot Dead at Bus Stop; Killers Sentenced to Decades in Prison

A 16-year-old boy in Louisville, Kentucky, had walked out his front door for his school bus stop on the morning of Sept. 22, 2021, when he was shot by two passing teens and fatally wounded. Law & Crime reports that Demaurion Moore and Mekhi Cable — both 15 at the time — drove past the intersection of West Chestnut Street and Dr. W.J. Hodge Street and opened fire on a group waiting there, injuring three children including Tyree Leshawn Smith.

Smith's mother said she watched her son leave the house that Wednesday morning headed for Eastern High School. Within minutes, her phone rang. "Mama, I feel like I'm dead," she recalled him saying. He was transported to a nearby hospital and later pronounced dead.

A Louisville Metro Police Department spokesperson confirmed Smith's death and condemned the attack at the time. "We had kids … that couldn't even wait at a bus stop this morning without getting shot, and that is horrifying and devastating," the officer said. Police reported that Smith was not the intended target of the shooting.

Moore and Cable were indicted in July 2022 and charged as adults. This summer, a jury convicted both on multiple counts, including murder, attempted murder, two counts of assault, and three counts of wanton endangerment, according to regional ABC affiliate WHAS.

Moore accepted a plea deal and received a 35-year prison sentence. Cable was offered a deal carrying a 30-year sentence but rejected it; the judge ultimately sentenced him to 60 years.

Cable's legal troubles did not end with Smith's killing. Approximately two months after the bus stop shooting, Cable fatally shot his cousin, 15-year-old Cortez Duncan. He later agreed to a plea deal for manslaughter in that case and was given 10 years, to run concurrently with his murder sentence, local Fox affiliate WDRB reported.

An obituary for Smith described him as someone who "was funny, loving, energetic and caring" and who "brought light into everyone's life that knew him." It noted that the "whole staff at Eastern High School loved him" and that he took pride in his job at McDonald's.

Source: Law & Crime