Man gets 42 years in fatal shooting

Dampier shot baby’s father after he wasn’t allowed to hold child

A Chicago man was sentenced to 62 years Friday afternoon for shooting an infant’s father in Gary when the couple wouldn’t let him hold the child.

Ray Dampier, 44, was convicted Jan. 11 in the May 10, 2022 shooting death of Devonte Brown, 29, outside on the 1700 block of West 5th Avenue in Gary.

He represented himself during a three-day trial and at Friday’s sentencing. Dampier said he planned to appeal.

Elbert Brown, the victim’s father, said he was his “first born” and “only son.” His son was the “best father in the world” and “stolen” trying to protect his six-week-old child.

“I can never get over it,” he said, “to bury a child, it shouldn’t be that way.”

Dampier didn’t take “accountability” or responsibility “one time” for what he did.

“You didn’t get away from that,” he said. “You damaged my family.”

Tamesha Goodwin, the victim’s mother, said she had him at 14 and raised him to be a good man. She later called Dampier a “monster”.

“It was not his time to go,” she said. “He deserves to be here.”

Deputy Prosecutor Lindsey Lanham noted Dampier’s criminal record started at age 12 for residential burglary. He spent nearly two decades behind bars around 2000 for aggravated kidnapping.

Court records show Judge Natalie Bokota, who previously oversaw his case, sentenced him twice for contempt of court in August 2023.

Lanham told Judge Gina Jones to “not be fooled” by Dampier saying he was more than his criminal record. It was “self-serving,” she said.

If anything, it was a “miracle” no kids or bystanders in nearby apartments were shot as Dampier fired five bullets.

She asked for 65 years. Dampier, who spoke for several minutes, said he learned and revered the U.S. Constitution in prison. Jones tried to nudge him to focus specifically on his sentencing.

He asked multiple times for her to set aside the jury verdict.

Prosecutors lied and didn’t prove he “intentionally” killed Brown, he said.

“I am definitely saddened at the fact a young man lost his life,” Dampier said. “I don’t wish that on no one.”

He was “not admitting” to anything, Dampier said. “I presented a defense and it was ignored.”

When Jones told him to talk about his sentencing, Dampier declined, saying that would be “crazy.”

Lanham argued a new trial was only granted as an “extreme remedy.” Dampier himself declined to call witnesses or testify, she said.

During sentencing, Jones said the shooting was senseless and reprehensible. He showed “reckless disregard for everyone.”

There were no mitigators, or factors in his favor to lighten a prison term, she said.

“I looked,” Jones said. “I was begging you to give me some.”

She denied Dampier’s motion to throw out the jury verdict, but later told him he was free to file a motion for a new trial, but it would probably be rejected.

Lashawn Ware testified at trial that she and Brown, her boyfriend, took their kids to her sister’s apartment. The woman came outside to meet her nephew for the first time.

Dampier, her sister’s boyfriend, was there. Dampier later clarified his girlfriend, Ware’s sister, called him across the street.

Dampier held his arms out and asked how much the baby weighed.

As Ware refused to let him hold the infant, Brown got out of the car, walked to them to back her up. He took the baby from the sister’s arms and gave the child back to Ware, then went back to their car and put on music.

“He was minding his own business,” she said.

Dampier is mad now, her sister said.

At one point, Dampier “slapped” a gun on the hood, before a woman took it away and put it in her purse.

Dampier walked to the car and punched Brown in the head, Ware said. A fight broke out.

“I tried to break it up,” Ware said.

Dampier told Brown “you’re dead,” she said. He ran across the street to his car, found a gun inside a woman’s purse, pointed it at Brown and fired it 3-5 times, according to the affidavit.

Brown tried to block his face.

“I was crying, because I didn’t know if he was still alive,” she said at trial, recalling the wait for paramedics.

Brown was transported to Methodist where he initially talked to detectives. He later died in surgery, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Before Friday’s hearing, Brown’s cousin Sharon Mallory said she watched him mature into a doting father.

He was “all about his kids and Lashawn,” she said.