A Minneapolis man who fatally shot his then-girlfriend's former boyfriend last year has been sentenced to more than eight years.
Derrick Blanton, 39, was given the maximum sentence last week after jurors convicted him of first-degree manslaughter in December for killing Isiah Smith, 29, on Aug. 18, 2019.
With credit for 18 months in jail since his arrest, Blanton is scheduled to serve the first 4¼ years of his 8½-year term in prison and the balance on supervised release.
Blanton was originally charged with second-degree murder, but jurors convicted him of a lesser count due to a variety of contributing factors, according to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office.
The office said Blanton acted in the "heat of passion" and was provoked by Smith.
Blanton shot Smith several times after they fought over the woman at her apartment in south Minneapolis. Smith, of Minneapolis, had a child with the woman and would stop by unannounced to see the child. Blanton was dating the woman at the time.
In a separate case, Blanton was charged in March with second-degree murder with intent in connection with the shooting of Gregory Hoskins in Minneapolis in July 2019.
A witness told police that Hoskins was carrying groceries to his Near North neighborhood house, when a black Chrysler 300 pulled up and a gunman fired multiple shots at Hoskins, according to the criminal complaint. The witness gave police a detailed description of the alleged shooter and later picked Blanton out of a photo lineup.
In July 2017, Hoskins' brother, Divittin Hoskins, 32, was killed under similar circumstances. Police said at the time that Divittin Hoskins was killed in retaliation for an earlier shooting.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
