Lancaster man sentenced to over  30 years for second-degree murder

SALUDA—Convicted murderer Tariq Joel Beane, 17, of Lancaster will be more than 44 years old when he becomes eligible to get out of prison. 

Following a three-day trial in October 2019, a Middlesex County Circuit Court jury found Beane guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Elijah Baker, 18, of Gloucester, and use of a firearm in commission of a felony. 

On February 5, Middlesex County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Shaw sentenced Beane to 30 years for Baker’s murder, and a mandatory sentence of three years for using a firearm. Typically, inmates serve 85% of a sentence and 100% of the mandatory firearm sentence. 

The maximum sentence for second-degree murder is 40 years.

Beane’s attorney, Vaughan Jones, argued Beane should be…

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