Man sentenced to life in prison for 2023 shooting

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — A 57-year-old man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for his involvement in a May 2023 shooting death in Lansing.

Ingham County Prosecutor John Dewane says Kelly Whitt was sentenced to life in prison for a first-degree murder conviction. He was also convicted of armed robbery, carrying a concealed weapon and three counts of felony firearm. Whitt was sentenced on Monday.

“Gun violence remains a serious concern in our community,” Dewane said in an email announcement of the conviction Tuesday. In the past two years, gun fatalities in Lansing have dropped substantially and our office is committed to continuing to address this issue, working with police, community violence prevention groups and victim advocates.”

Police said at the time, in early May 2023, officers were dispatched to the 400 block of S. Capital Ave. shortly before 9 p.m. They located Lewis Hill, 48, with a gunshot wound. He was transported to a local hospital and later pronounced dead.

Whitt and another man, Jacob Curtis, 24, were charged with multiple felonies in June 2023 in connection with Hill’s death. Curtis entered a guilty plea to “manslaughter and armed robbery with serious injury, sentenced on Sept 23 to 15 years to 30 years (concurrent sentence) on those charges, with 471 days jail credit,” a spokesman from the prosecutor’s office tells 6 News.

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