PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A North Philadelphia man already serving a life term has been sentenced to additional decades in prison for shooting and killing eleven-month-old Yaseem Jenkins in a 2019 drug deal gone bad.
Calling it a "horrific, cowardly murder," Judge J. Scott O'Keefe sentenced 33-year-old Francisco Ortiz to 37 ½ to 75 years in prison Friday, consecutive to his life sentence.
Ortiz was convicted of third-degree murder in June in the death of Jenkins.
Prosecutors say Jenkins was in the back seat when his father, Nafes Monroe, drove to Seventh and Luzerne streets to buy marijuana in 2019. After Monroe tried to pay Ortiz with two counterfeit $20 bills, Ortiz opened fire on the car.
The baby was shot three times and paralyzed from the neck down. Jenkins died from his injuries last year.
"He died because he couldn't roll over," Assistant District Attorney Jeff Hojnowski said in court Friday. "He aspirated on his feeding tube."
Hojnowski asked O'Keefe to impose the maximum sentence for Jenkins’ death, saying even though Ortiz was already serving a life sentence for a separate murder, a message needed to be sent.
Jenkins’ aunt, Syreeta Gilliam, said in court that Ortiz "destroyed us for, what, $40?"
When given the opportunity to speak, Ortiz replied, "It ain't what y'all think," and "$40 ain't worth that."
Attorneys said Ortiz had a long juvenile record that continued as an adult. Defense Attorney Timothy Tarpey said while Ortiz is no angel, he was released from the juvenile system without treatment for his bipolar diagnosis.
"It looks like those mental health issues were never really addressed," Tarpey told KYW Newsradio.
Hojnowski called Jenkins’ death the worst case he's handled as a prosecutor.
"This poor kid,” Hojnowski said, “his life was basically taken from him before it even began."
"[The sentence] should really send a message to deter people like him, but other people who think of shooting randomly into a car, shooting at children, and just totally disregarding the value of human life."