A Milwaukee man has been sentenced to 205 years in prison for fatally shooting five members of his family in a massacre that shocked the nation.
Christopher Stokes, 44, plead guilty to the horrific crimes, which he carried out without explanation in April of last year.
On Tuesday, Stokes spoke to the court prior to his sentencing and stated: ‘I don’t know what in the world came over me. I woke up and just had blood on my mind.’
He continued: ‘Something just wasn’t going right. I did the ultimate sin… I deserve to be locked up. I deserve everything I get. I’m not asking for leniency or anything like that. No one in the world should have done what I did.’
Stokes was sentenced to 40 years behind bars for each of the five counts of first-degree reckless homicide and an additional five years for possession of a firearm by a felon. He was also given 105 years of extended supervision.
Stokes’ attorney had asked for his client to serve just 35 years behind bars, claiming he had sought out mental health treatment a month before the massacre, but in-person sessions had been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prosecutors said it was important Stokes never be released from prison, given his unpredictable nature.
On Tuesday, Stokes spoke to the court prior to his sentencing and stated: ‘I don’t know what in the world came over me. I woke up and just had blood on my mind.’
The home where the massacre took place is pictured above. Stokes waited for police on the front steps of the home and immediately confessed to the crime.
On the morning of April 27, 2020, Stokes shot dead his on-off girlfriend Teresa Thomas, 41, and her two children, 16-year-old Tiera Agee and 14-year-old Demetrius Thomas.
He also killed his own son, 19-year-old Marcus Stokes and another relative, 17-year-old Lakeitha Stokes.
Only Stokes’ three-year-old grandchild was spared. Prosecutors say the child witnessed the shootings and asked Stokes not to hurt him.
Stokes dialed 911 after the shootings and told the dispatcher that several members of his family had been shot and that the gun was ‘still upstairs with the bodies.’
He then called 911 a second time and again confessed to killing his family with the weapon.
When police arrived at the house, Stokes was sitting on the steps. When an officer asked Stokes if he had heard any shots, he responded, ‘Yeah, I didn’t hear them, I did them,’ according to the complaint.
Police discovered a camouflaged 12-gauge shotgun in one of the bedrooms with 12 spent shotgun shells throughout the house.
In court on Tuesday, Stokes’ nephew Rosemary Turner stated: Losing those many people at one time, including him, hate is a bad word, but we really do hate him for that’.
She added: ‘We still love him because he’s our uncle, but can we forgive him for what he did? No, we can’t. Do we understand it? No, we don’t. It’s like, we just got to take it a day at a time.’
Stokes had a lengthy rap sheet and a history of domestic violence, according to Fox 6.
He pleaded guilty in 2007 to felony battery, felony bail jumping and felony intimidation of a witness. He was sentenced to four and a half years in prison, prohibited from possessing firearms and ordered to complete a batterers’ intervention course.
Five years later, in 2012, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery with a domestic abuse modifier and drew 18 months in prison with another gun ban.
In 2017, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct and was sentenced to a month in jail with work-release privileges.
Stokes was also convicted in 2002 of misdemeanor battery. He was sentenced to probation, ordered to attend domestic abuse counseling and prohibited from possessing firearms.
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