MARIANNA — A man who authorities said fired the fatal shots during a drug deal turned ambush has been sentenced to 30 years in prison, according to court records.
Christopher Laster, 27, was the last of three men to accept a plea deal in connection with an August shooting that left two Sneads men with gunshot wounds. Patrick Register, 26, died as a result of the shooting and four suspects were arrested in the fallout. Laster pleaded no contest Tuesday to manslaughter and attempted robbery with a firearm. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison, court records indicated.
However, Register’s family members were not pleased with the sentence, hoping for a life sentence. Massive turnouts of friends and relatives appeared at hearings sometimes wearing brightly colored shirts demanding “Justice for Patrick.”
“To my regret, there is not enough time that would be imposed on him to give us back Patrick,” Lavelle Register said at the sentencing before turning to Laster. “… You took the very heart of all of us.”
Register and his driver, 28-year-old Travis Martin Locke, were both shot in the early hours of Aug. 20 as they fled the intersection of Dellwood and Cypress Road after an attempt to purchase 23 boxes of pseudaphedrine to make methamphetamine turned into an ambush.
According to police reports, Locke and Register expected only to meet Dayeisha Curry to conduct the transaction when three masked men appeared from the woods.
“Go, go, go! He’s got a gun,” Register yelled to Locke.
A man who was wearing a bandana on his face, later identified as 24-year-old Laderious Corbitt Pittman, jumped into the truck’s window as the two men attempted to flee. A struggle ensued and Pittman’s firearm discharged within the cab of the truck but did not hit anyone. From outside, Laster and Jordan Taishon Davis fired upon the truck.
Locke was struck twice but survived his injuries. Register also was struck and died a short time later.
Deputies later spotted Curry driving through Marianna. Davis and Laster were passengers in her car when police stopped her, police reported.
Pittman, who dangled from the truck’s window as the two men fled, was arrested days later.
Since then, Pittman and Davis accepted plea deals in exchange for their testimony against Laster. Pittman is expected to be sentenced to 10 years. Davis agreed to a sentence of 20 years for their roles in Register’s death. Laster was the last remaining shooter to accept a plea agreement.
Laster’s trial was set for April’s end before he agreed to 30 years in prison Tuesday for manslaughter and attempted robbery with a firearm, 25 years of which he will serve day-for-day.
Curry’s case is still pending, but prosecutors have offered her a 10-year prison sentence.