ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — A Rock Island woman will spend the next 20 years of her life in prison for stabbing a 14-year-old girl to death in December 2020.
Jimena Jinez, now 20, pleaded guilty last October to first-degree murder for stabbing Lyric Stewart to death in the 1200 block of 11th Street on Dec. 30, 2020.
Rock Island County Judge Frank Fuhr sentenced Jinez to 22 years in prison. However, because she's been in jail since her arrest, she'll only serve 20 years.
After she plead guilty, the state and defense agreed on a sentencing range between 20-30 years.
Jinez originally faced one count of first-degree murder and one count of mob action. Following her guilty plea, the state motioned to dismiss the mob action count, which is defined as "the knowing or reckless use of force or violence disturbing the public peace by two or more persons acting together and without authority of the law."
It was an emotional day in court for Stewart's family and friends who packed the courtroom, some wearing items of clothing with her picture on them.
Her aunt, Diana Stewart, read a statement to the court sharing some of her favorite things about her niece and how hard the last two years have been since she died.
"Getting a phone call that no one wants to get sent shockwaves and pain through my body, a feeling I can't explain, like I was being electrocuted. Everything turned black," Diana said. "You stole Lyric's life... You broke the link in our chain, a branch of our family tree's bare. Jimena these are things you stole from Lyric and I pray the judge takes these opportunities from you."
Jinez read a statement of her own, apologizing to the Stewart family and that she never meant for this to happen.
"I could have chose to walk away but I didn't," Jinez said.
While reading his sentencing, Chief Judge Frank Fuhr told Jinez he believes her time in the Department of Corrections will give her more structure than she's ever had in her life.
The Stewart family was upset with the 22 year sentence after they had asked the judge to consider the maximum 30 year sentence.
"We fought as hard as we could. I don't understand why but the cards seemed like they were stacked against us from the beginning and point proven today. It's nothing that we were led to believe or else we wouldn't have accepted the plea that was on the table," her dad Tony Stewart said. "Two days from today will mark the day that we had her funeral. I thought it would be a victory. I thought maybe this is like a sign from my daughter that we were going to win. And we didn't."
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