Man Gets 23 Years For Killing Sparked By Hair Weave Debate

A 21 year old man has been sentenced to jail for 23 years after shooting and killing a young man over an argument which initially started from a comment about the inappropriateness of hair weaves.

From The New York Daily News:
A Brooklyn man who was convicted for shooting another man during a street brawl that was triggered by a spat over hair weaves was sentenced to 23 years in prison Tuesday.
Dennzel Holder, 21, received the punishment for killing Shawn Williams, 27, during the 2011 melee.

"It started with a group of women who had a foolish argument over a hair weave," said Supreme Court Justice Alan Marrus. "What a senseless tragedy."

The young ladies got into it when one made a comment about inappropriateness of hair extensions and the victim's girlfriend - walking just ahead down a Crown Heights shopping strip - took offense. After bottles and punches were thrown, her rival summoned her boyfriend, Holder.
He ended up pumping at least three bullets into Williams, but a jury surprisingly cleared him of murder in February, convicting of manslaughter instead.

A parade of witnesses recounted during the trial the insults and recriminations that escalated into mortal violence.
"Mr. Holder had left a hole in my heart," Williams's mother Dierdra Haynes told the judge.

"I can't imagine how you feel," Holder said to the victim's relatives. "I'd like to express my sincere apologies for your loss."
Marrus, who could have given the defendant as little as five years, sentenced him to just two years shy of the maximum.

Holder can be out in about 17 years with credit for time served and good behavior.
The outcome didn't satisfy loved ones of the slain man.
"He still got a chance to live," Williams's father Leonard Saunders, 51, said of Holder outside the courtroom. "He has a chance to have a life after (prison)."
"It's not fair."