Two Philly men sentenced to decades in state prison for murdering a man on his birthday
John Wilson and George Clark were convicted of third-degree murder and related crimes for plotting to kill Herbert Lyals outside of his birthday party in Bristol Township in 2016.
Two men who conspired to kill a man as he celebrated his birthday in Bristol Township in July 2016 were sentenced Friday to decades in prison.
John Marquis Wilson, 45, of Frankford, pleaded guilty Friday to third-degree murder, robbery and conspiracy, and was sentenced to 16 to 32 years in state prison for helping lure his childhood friend Herbert Lyals to a planned assassination.
Wilson’s coconspirator, George Javon Clark, 34, was sentenced Friday to 20 to 40 years after a Bucks County jury found him guilty of third-degree murder and related crimes in July.
Clark, of West Philadelphia, shot Lyals after Wilson called him multiple times, asking him to step outside of his birthday party being held at a relative’s house in the Green Lawn section of Bristol Township, investigators said.
The two men targeted Lyals, 38, because they had heard rumors he routinely carried large sums of money.
Clark has continued to maintain his innocence after his conviction, saying he played no role in the plot to kill Lyals.
Wilson testified against Clark at this year’s trial, which was held after a grand jury last year ruled that there was enough evidence to charge both men with Lyal’s murder.
During the grand jury proceedings, investigators testified that Lyals had been shot in the chest and head after leaving his birthday party to answer a phone call.
His family members later found him outside, mortally wounded with his cell phone nearby.
Lyals still had several thousand dollars in his possession after he was shot.
Other witnesses testified before the grand jury that they knew the two men had plotted to rob Lyals, and that one of Wilson’s relatives helped them flee back to Philadelphia after the fatal shooting.