. >> jonathan cornish turned 18 last saturday. now, he will spend the next 40 years in federal prison. he was 15 years old when he pulled the trigger as part of a murder for hire scheme. >> he was a kid that was 15 at the time and in robotic fashion, he pulled the trigger and that is quite frightening. >> the victim was lured out of his home and his killers were paid $2,500 to prevent him from testifying in a murder case. he admitted shooting him three times with a 45 caliber handgun and the ties to the bloods gang was a membership that would cost and dealer. -- cost in the late -- cost him dearly. what's the victim was a key witness in a march 2006 murder. he had agreed to testify after seeing the murder in an alley and watching a man hide again. he used an illegal cellphone 2 ordered a hit on the witness. the family says they hope they can forgive him one day. >> that one man looked at me straight in the face and it made me feel better. it made me feel like he was really listening to what i was saying i hope he does well. >> i p

jonathan cornish was 15 years old when he shot and killed carl lackl in 2007. patrick byers, who is serving a life sentence ordered the hit from a cell phone in prison. lackl was set to testify against byers in a murder trial. >> i hope in time i can forgive him, and i hope he does do good. and maybe makes something of himself and learns and getting an education, and maybe, you know, some good will come out of it somehow. >> i'm sorry that jonathan did this. i'm so sorry, and i know that jonathan is too. but this about how baltimore really is. the crime, the drugs, these kids. this has to stop. >> cornish apologized to the lackl family today before his sentencing this afternoon. >>> a crash involving olympic gold medalist michael phelps was not his fault, according to baltimore city police. police say the other driver ran a red light. the crash happened at the intersection of biddle and calvert streets near downtown. police say the female driver was heading north when she went through the red light and slammed into phelps' suv. she was taken to the hospital aft

jonathan cornish pleaded guilty to shooting lackl in july of 2007 to prevent him from testifying in court. the judge wants cornish to get a g.e.d. and vocational training and participate in a drug and alcohol program while in prisonon. olympic gold medalist michael phelps intends to resume training despite a sore ankle from a car crash he was involved in thursday night. meantime, he's got some explaining to do phelps will have to tell a judge while he was driving a michigan license officials say was invalid. he was issued a citation. the driver of the other vehicle anyplace a $180 fine and possibly three points on her driving record for running a red light and causing the accident. the message on his official face book site, phelps said he was fine and expressed concern for the woman involved in the car crash. >> officials are look into changing a law requiring carbon monoxide detectors this after three people were hospitalized and others sickened after a leak at the americana hotel last week. the law was passed in 2007 after two people died from carbon monoxide poisoning. it applies to h

jonathan cornish was only 15 when he shot and killed carl lackl. and now cornish will spend the next 40 years behind bars. patrick byers was sentenced in may to four consecutive life terms for ordering the hit using a cell phone. lackl was set to testify against byers in a murder trial. >> like i said, my son was a forgiving person. and all the time i listened to it. and i talk about it, i heard my son saying mom, she was just a kid. and that's kind of heart carl had. >> i'm sorry that jonathan did this. i'm so sorry. and i know that jonathan is too. >> there is no winners here. a lot of losers. kids that for whatever reason don't -- possess the ability to really care. and a lot of that has to do with the hopeless situations they they come up in. >> cornish apparently cares now. he apologized to the lackl family before his sentencing. >>> on the weather front, we had a moderately warm day for august you would have to say around here. 84 degrees is it at bwi. i think the temperatures begin to add up as we go into saturday and sunday. right noy we're

. >> 18-year-old jonathan cornish was sentenced yesterday to 40 years in prison for the death in carl lackl jr. he plead guilty to gunning lackl outside his home when his daughter was nearby. he was paid to kill lackl so he wouldn't testify in court by patrick byers. >> he looked at me and it made me feel better like he was listening to what i was saying. so i hope he does well. >> he was so young. i wish the lackl family the best. >> the court wants cornish to get a g.e.d. and participate in a drug and alcohol program while in prison. >> a disturbing case of animal abuse. they have charged three people with torturing and killing a cat. we want to worn you, some of the details in this story are graphic. here's melissa carlson. >> baltimore county police say it was sunday whether they got a call from a man who said he just returned home from a vacation and while he was gone he got a call from 18-year-old scott mcdowl who told him his cat was dead. >> he was invited by a friend kevin ables over to a house to play cards. able was house sitting for someone in the neighborhood. he got ther

jonathan cornish plead guilty to gunning down lackl as he stood outside his home with his daughter nearby. cornish was 15 years old when he was paid to murder lackl to prevent him from testifying in court. in the courtroom yesterday cornish apologized to lackl's family. >> that young man looked me straight in the face, looked at my picture of my son, and it made me feel better, it made me really feel like he was listening to m what i was saying. i hope he does well. >> i wish the family the best. >> he wants -- the judge wants cornish to participate in a drug and alcohol program in prison as well as get his g.e.d. >> a prisoner was being transported to jail when he managed to attack a howard county sheriff's deputy and take off. kim dacey has more. >> the search for convicted felon started thursday night. >> police are everywhere, helicopters. >> it lasted most of the day friday. >> i knew something was wrong when i seen the first two officers there. when i seen more come in and then the canine units come in, i knew something was really dwrong. >> the search was for this man, 20-year-old

lackle's mother, margaret shipley, speaks to wjz just moments after hearing the sentence for jonathan cornish, the teenager accused -- convicted of pulling the trigger. this is considered one of the most brash cases of witness intimidation ever seen. >> i hope in time i can forgive him. and i hope he does do good. and maybe makes something of himself and learns and even gets an education. >> reporter: a federal judge sentenced now 18-year-old cornish to prison in exchange for a plea agreement. in exchange, prosecutors will receive testimony for seven others in the case. all of whom have been convicted. >> he will never get to walk around the corner. he'll never live a life. he'll just exist. and maybe that's what he deserves. but it's still tragic. >> the most notorious of the eight convicted, patrick byers, who is spending life in prison without parole. bee -- byers was convicted of orchestrating the murder from a jail cell. >> they do extraordinary measures that can be taken to ensure that perpetrators of these kind of witness intimidation crimes are completely cut off with contact with the

. >> carl lackle's mother speaks moments after hearing the sentence for jonathan cornish, the teenager convicted of pulling the trigger. >> i hope in time i can forgive him. and i hope he does do good. and maybe makes something of himself and learns things and gets an education. >> reporter: a federal judge sentenced now 18-year-old cornish to prison as part of a plea agreement. in exchange, they convicted seven others in the case, all of whom have been sentenced. >> you know, you'll never open the refrigerator again. he'll never walk around the corner. he'll never live a life. he'll just exist. and maybe that's what he deserves. but it's still tragic. >> of course the most notowerious -- notorious. and he said from the bottom of his heart, he was deeply sorry for pulling that trigger. for now, we are live at the federal courthouse in baltimore. weijia jiang, wjz eyewitness news. >> thanks, weijia. carl lackle's family is pushing to pass legislation that would jam cell phone signals in prison. >>> a very disturbing case of animal abuse results in the arrests of three men. they are char

. >> reporter: a federal judge sentences the trigger man friday. 18-year-old jonathan cornish was the last to receive his fate. 40 years in prison. >> he'll never live a life. he'll just exist. and maybe that's what he deserves. uh, but it's still tragic. >> my nephew 's a good kid. he meant well. >> reporter: he truly apologies for taking the young father. >> he looked at the picture of my son and it made me feel better. >> reporter: the judge called the killing blatant and cold-blooded. he testified against the mastermind of the murder. patrick byers orchestrated it all via cell phone from his prison cell. paying $2300 for the hit. of that, cornish got $100. lackle's sister feels capacity for him. >> my brother was a very compassionate person. i know carl would have forgive him. >> reporter: the lackle family has started to jam the fight of cell phone signals from prison. >> why should they have the right to make phone calls? i'm hell bent on getting this problem solved. >> reporter: the fcc prohibits signals from prison. reporting from the federal courthouse in downtown baltimore.