In a tragic turn of events that struck at the heart of the criminal justice system, Demetric Tatum, a 35-year-old male, was fatally shot on February 1, 2014, in Rochester, New York. The execution-style killing was carried out in the presence of his two young children, a brutal end to a life caught in a cycle of violence.
The roots of this tragedy trace back to November of 2012, when Tatum was first shot by Willie 'Boss' McCullough. Tatum survived this initial assault and was set to be a key witness against McCullough. However, just before the court proceedings for the 2012 assault charges were to begin, McCullough orchestrated a plan to silence Tatum permanently. He arranged for another individual to kill Tatum, thereby preventing him from cooperating with law enforcement and testifying in court.
The fatal encounter on that cold February day was the culmination of McCullough's efforts to evade justice. Two men were identified as suspects in the murder of Demetric Tatum: Willie McCullough, who was 32 at the time, and Donkavius Howard, then 23. Following an investigation, the full weight of the law came down on McCullough for his role in both the initial assault and the subsequent murder.
In January of 2015, a trial was held for the 2012 shooting, which resulted in a conviction for McCullough on the charge of Assault in the First Degree. For this crime, he was sentenced to 20 years in state prison on April 6, 2015. The pursuit of justice for Tatum's murder continued, and on October 16, 2015, a Monroe County jury found Willie McCullough guilty of Murder in the First Degree. On November 18, 2015, a judge sentenced him to 25 years to life in prison. This sentence was ordered to run consecutively with his prior 20-year sentence, ensuring that McCullough would likely spend the remainder of his life behind bars for his calculated and ruthless actions.
