Pair sentenced in connection to murder of Syracuse University student Xiaopeng ‘Pippen’ Yuan

Two men convicted of murder and robbery in connection to the death of Syracuse University student Xiaopeng “Pippen” Yuan were sentenced Monday.

Cameron Isaac, 24, of North Syracuse, was sentenced to life in prison without parole, Syracuse.com reported, for shooting and killing Yuan, a Chinese international student from Beijing, behind the Springfield Garden Apartments complex in DeWitt last September.

Ninimbe Mitchell, 20, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for robbery, Syracuse.com reported. Mitchell, also of North Syracuse, is Isaac’s nephew.

Isaac was convicted on a first-degree murder charge last month by a jury. Authorities say he shot and killed Yuan after robbing the student of 2 pounds of marijuana.

Mitchell drove Isaac to and from the scene of Yuan’s death. At the time, Yuan, 23, was a junior mathematics major.

The Springfield Garden Apartments complex, off Caton Drive, is located near Le Moyne College. Mitchell was originally charged with second-degree murder in addition to first-degree robbery, as authorities said he acted as a willing accomplice to Isaac.

A jury acquitted Mitchell of the murder charge but convicted him of the robbery charge. Mitchell’s defense lawyer, Paul Carey, earlier this month said he thought the jury’s verdict contradicted itself.

The high-profile murder trial ran nine days this August. Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick prosecuted the case.

Both Isaac and Mitchell’s charges were considered simultaneously by one jury. John Brunetti, the judge who oversaw the case, instructed jurors to give separate consideration to the two defendants’ charges.

“This was a disgusting act,” Fitzpatrick said at the trial.