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Mom who buried guns after teen killed in her garage sentenced

Officials say the incident began when Quinn's son, Cody, met with Jayquon Johnson to complete a drug transaction. Both were allegedly armed.
Credit: Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office
Heidi Quinn

TAMPA, Fla. -- "The decisions you made were wrong. Moving these guns; you shouldn't have done it," Judge Michelle Sisco said to the handcuffed mother she handed a sentence to Monday morning.

"The situation is almost unbelievable," she said.

The situation she's talking about? A popular 17-year-old star basketball player from Brandon High School shot and left for dead in Heidi Quinn's Valrico home on New Year's Day 2017.

"I didn't see any blood," Quinn said when explaining her actions to the judge.

Earlier: No homicide charges in fatal shooting of Brandon High basketball player

Quinn said she heard a noise and first didn't think anything of it. She then went out to the garage after she'd been notified Jayquon Johnson had been shot. The shooter was her 16-year-old son, Cody.

In a panic, Quinn took the weapons and buried them in a trash can in her backyard. Officials say she didn't even bother to call 911.

These actions led officials to file charges of attempted tampering with physical evidence. Because the guns she hid were contaminated with dirt, investigators had no way of completing their investigation.

This meant her son wouldn't face murder charges. Instead, he faces felony drug and weapons charges. He and Johnson were allegedly involved in a drug transaction.

Cody Quinn will be in court in late April. Johnson's father said his son won't have that opportunity.

"I have a son that I can no longer touch or feel, kiss or any of those things that parents do with their kids," Johnny Johnson said.

"I didn't come down here looking for her death, or her head, or anything of that such. I showed up as the most humble person that I could possibly be," he said. "I'm only looking for accountability.

"All she was in there for is moving the guns, so she was held accountable for her actions, and that's all me and my family wanted."

Heidi Quinn was sentenced to 30 days in jail, two years of house arrest and two years of probation. The 21 days she has already served counts toward her sentence, so she has just nine days left behind bars.

Emerald Morrow is a reporter with 10News WTSP. Like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter. You can also email her at emorrow@wtsp.com.

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