DAVENPORT, Iowa — Parker Belz of Davenport received a 25-year prison sentence Wednesday, Jan. 13 for the fatal shooting Italia Kelly in May 2020.
According to court documents, Belz was charged with attempted murder and must serve at least 17.5 years of the 25-year sentence and pay $150,000 in restitutions.
Belz was initially charged with 1st-degree murder in the death of the 22-year-old. Kelly was shot and killed in the parking lot of a Walmart during a night of police brutality protests. A plea deal was filed with the Scott County District Court on Oct. 5 reduced the charges against Belz.
The full plea agreement can be found here.
Kelly was riding passenger in a vehicle on May 31, 2020, in the Walmart parking lot on East Kimberly Road when police say a single shot was fired and struck her in the torso.
Kelly's mother, Sharon, spoke with News 8 after the plea deal was reached in October. She explained the family felt it was the best course of action to see justice served.
"We knew we could have gone to trial, but as a family, we decided we weren't mentally ready for all that," Sharon Kelly said. "And who knows what the trial of the outcome could have been, he could have gotten a lesser sentence than this."
Sharon Kelly added that the decision helped the family get some closure.
"For us, if he apologizes, that's great. But if not, he's going to have to deal with that karma," Sharon Kelly said.