Teen Gets 25 Years In Beating Death

A teenage killer is going to prison for his role in the beating death of a Sioux Falls immigrant.

Dwight Ree, who was only 17-years-old at the time and was tried as an adult, received 25 years as part of a plea bargain. But the victim's family says 25 years is not enough.

It was a horrific scene when police found the body of 20-year-old Geu Ayuel's in an alley in Sioux Falls last summer.

His head had been stomped on, hit with rocks numerous times and choked. 

Ree and Jerome Ewing tried burning Ayuel's body to destroy the evidence. According to the police report, the three had been drinking and left to buy some cigarettes when Ree and Ewing attacked Ayuel because he was "running his mouth."

Ayuel's family left the courtroom in tears and angry. 

"We lose, we don't have anything to say, 25 years is nothing," Ayuel's cousin Atem Juowei said.

Before he was sentenced, Ree apologized to the Ayuel family while he fought back tears. He said "everyday I wake up, I wish I could go back and change that night, I can't believe I did that. I hope one day they'll be able to forgive me."

"The bad thing about it, the way he die, we don't appreciate the way he die," Juowei said.

Ree will be eligible for parole before he turns 30. The judge said in court, she believed Ree has potential to be rehabilitated and can make something of himself when he gets out of prison.

Ayuel's family disagrees.

"Do you think the guy will change when he gets out of prison, he'll kill another person," Juowei said.

The other suspect in this case 23-year-old Ewing will be sentenced Friday morning. He faces 40 years in prison. Prosecutors had no comment until after Friday's sentencing.