BLUEFIELD, W.Va. — One of two Bluefield woman who previously pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the March 2022 shooting death of a 13-year-old girl will be sentenced Tuesday afternoon.
Nichole Brooks, 44, will appear for a sentencing hearing at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in Mercer County Circuit Court.
Brooks accepted a plea deal for second degree murder after going on trial for first degree murder back in May. Her daughter, Isis Wallace, 23, was sentenced to 50 years in prison in June after pleading guilty to the same charges of second-degree murder and use of a firearm during the commission of a felony and conspiracy to commit murder.
As part of Brooks’ plea deal, other charges were dropped so she won’t be facing as much prison time as her daughter. Brooks faces 10-30 years in prison.
The teenage girl, Maryse Tatum, was shot in the back of the head while riding in the back seat of a car at the intersection of Route 460 and Cumberland Road in Bluefield in March 2022. She later died at a Charleston hospital.
Mercer County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Josh Lawson previously told MetroNews the gun shot came from a car being driven by Wallace and Brooks.
“This child was a completely innocent bystander in all of this,” Lawson said back in June.
The incident unfolded after a domestic altercation at a home on Memorial Avenue involving Wallace’s ex-boyfriend. His sister, who was accompanied by her 13 year old daughter, drove from North Carolina to get him. When he left the home, Wallace and Brooks followed his car and caught up with him at the intersection where the girl was shot and killed.
Wallace will be eligible for parole after serving 15 years.