Herbert Lyals, 38, was killed during a 2016 robbery in Bristol Township. George Javon Clark, 34, and John Marquis Wilson, 45, have now been sentenced in the case, prosecutors said.

By Jillian Pikora From Daily Voice

Two Philadelphia men have been sentenced for the 2016 shooting death of Herbert Lyals during a robbery in Bristol Township, prosecutors announced on Friday, Nov. 14.

George Javon Clark, 34, was sentenced to 20 to 40 years in state prison by Senior Judge Thomas C. Branca after being convicted in July of third-degree murder, robbery, attempted theft, criminal use of a communication facility, and conspiracy, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.

John Marquis Wilson, 45, pleaded guilty on Friday to third-degree murder, robbery, criminal use of a communication facility, and conspiracy. He was sentenced to 16 to 32 years in state prison, prosecutors said.

During the hearing, Lyals’ loved ones delivered emotional victim impact statements. His mother told the judge, “The night that they took my son, they took a part of me with them,” the release stated.

Deputy District Attorney Thomas C. Gannon told jurors that Clark and Wilson went to Truman Street that night to rob Lyals after hearing he had money. During the robbery, Clark shot and killed the 38-year-old father of three. Gannon described Lyals as a peaceful and caring man and said, “He was a ‘velvet teddy bear,’” according to the release.

Investigators detailed that Lyals had stepped outside his cousin’s home at 12:45 a.m. on July 27, 2016, after celebrating his birthday, when he was shot. Detectives found multiple calls between Lyals and Wilson, along with numerous calls and text messages between Wilson and Clark in the hours around the killing, the DA’s office said.

The case was solved through an extensive investigation by Bucks County Detective Eric Landamia and Bristol Township Detective Alex Asmann, who worked both the original 2016 probe and the later re-investigation that led to charges, according to prosecutors.