Man gets 41 years for Centreville 'pen' shooting

BELLEVILLE -- A man has been sentenced to 41 years in prison for shooting his cousin in the head as revenge for being hit in the face with a pen.

St. Clair County Judge John Baricevic (bar-ah-SEV'-ic) told Christopher J. Howard Thursday that he believed the 36-year-old is a danger to the community.

MaKeisha Cody was fatally shot June 28 while she sat in a car in Centreville. Authorities say Howard told them the mother of three had hit him in the eye with a pen six months earlier.

Howard's attorney, Lloyd Cueto Jr., asked the judge to sentence Howard to the minimum of 20 years in prison, saying he'd never had a criminal conviction.

Cody's family cried in court when the sentence was read.