Gregory Brooks, 19, fatally shot Milton and Ruby McClendon, 78 and 76, in 2009. The elderly couple's bodies were found in a Cook County Forest Preserve near south suburban Calumet City.
"I held a picture of my mother up in the courtroom today. It's a high school picture of her. And I had this with me so that she knows--and so that my father knows; I'm wearing his suit today--so that they know that this day was not in vain," said victims' son Garrard McClendon.
"We're gonna try to keep as many youths as we can from getting tied up in gangs, like my son did," said Gregory Brooks Sr., the convicted killer's father.
Brooks faced 45 to 130 years in prison in the murders. The consecutive sentence means they will be served back to back.
His co-defendant Reo Thompson will be sentenced Thursday.
