Convicted Killer Already Serving 122 Years Gets 40–60 More for Teen’s Murder

NILES, Mich. (WOWO)— A man already serving more than a century behind bars will now spend decades more in prison after being sentenced in the killing of a 14-year-old boy in southwest Michigan.

Rease Pence was handed a 40- to 60-year sentence Wednesday for the 2022 murder of Gavin Blankenship, following his conviction by a Berrien County jury late last year.

Prosecutors say Pence shot and killed Blankenship at an apartment complex in Niles in May 2022, a crime that unfolded in front of family members, including the victim’s sister.

During sentencing, she told the court the trauma remains vivid. “I hear the shots ringing in my head,” she said.

The new sentence will run consecutive to Pence’s existing 122-and-a-half-year sentence out of Indiana, where he is already serving time for two other murders.

The ruling effectively ensures Pence will spend the rest of his life in prison, with no realistic chance of release.

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