A 20-year-old man was sentenced Tuesday to prison for murder after pleading guilty to killing a teen.

Dante Ford was sentenced to 28 to 50 years for second-degree murder and two consecutive years for felony firearm for the death of 17-year-old Corey Harris-Thomas.

“There's not a day I wish I could hold him. Tell him I love him. I told him every day. Every day, twice a day,” said Deidra Harris-Thomas, Corey’s mom.

Just feet away from the man who confessed to murdering their teenage son, Corey’s parents said in court that while they feel empty, they must try and move forward for their other children.

“For him to be gone, it hurts me every day,” said his father, Corey Thomas.

Using the "Let Go" app, Harris-Thomas of Grosse Pointe Woods tried selling Ford a pair of Air Jordan sneakers back in June, meeting up near Birwood and Fenkell in Detroit.


Calling her son outgoing, athletic and loving, Harris-Thomas’s parents wish he never decided to sell those shoes.

"I thought taking him to a suburb would avoid a situation like this,” his mother said.

Ford chose not speak Thursday but his attorney told the judge that Ford never had an intent to kill and became caught up in a certain lifestyle

“They're immersed in a culture of get money now,” his attorney said.

The judge was unable to imagine the heartache these parents are feeling and reminded Ford that the young man's murder boils down to individual responsibility.

“Ford knew what he was doing was wrong. He had no right at gunpoint to rob and eventually kill someone over a pair gym shoes."