Nathan Curry was sentenced to 30 years in prison for a killing a man who allegedly stole his mother's AK-47

Nathan Curry, left, and brother Benjamin Curry, in court in Nov. 2014.

 UPDATE: A retired Miami Herald staffer has asked me to add this comment about David Ovalle: "From the moment David arrived at the Herald as a newbie, there never was a doubt that, day by day, story by story, chat by chat, he'd master - and excel at - the craft of news reporting and writing. He did it the old-fashioned way - through hard work, long hours and supreme talent. David is a credit to himself, to the Herald and to his profession." —Marty Merzer, Tallahassee

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David Ovalle has seen pretty much all of what Miami's criminal justice system has to offer....and he's written about most of it.

In the past few weeks, Ovalle, the Miami Herald's courthouse reporter, has filed stories about an unrepentant 10-time felon who asked a judge for a take-out order of fried chicken before he was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping and rape, the arrest of three teens in the ambush murder of a 17-year-old Miami Gardens boy walking home from school, and the arrest of three other teen boys - all with criminal histories - who have been charged in the murder of King Carter, the six-year old boy who was gunned down in February while walking to a store to buy candy.

Back in January, Ovalle wrote about 18-year-old Will Campbell who served just one year in jail for his role in a mass shooting at a Liberty City nightclub that wounded 15 people. Released early on probation, Campbell was re-arrested after probation officers found a loaded gun and marijuana in his bedroom closet.

Nathan Curry, 17.

Ovalle also has written stories about inner city youth, who at some point in their young lives have decided it's a perfectly normal and acceptable thing to murder someone over a perceived act of disrespect.

But the story he filed today starkly illustrates how criminal behavior has become a thoroughly-entrenched, everyday part of life in some South Florida families...and how intractable and deeply-ingrained the problem continues to be in some communities.

"Fatal shooting over mother’s stolen AK47 lands Miami teen in prison for 30 years" is the headline on Ovalle's short story:

"A Miami teen convicted of murder is headed to prison for 30 years — for killing a man he suspected stole his mother’s AK47.

"A judge has handed down the sentence for Nathan Curry, 17, for the killing of Lonnie Reese, 24, who was gunned down in broad daylight on a street in Brownsville in September 2014.

Benjamin Curry, 18.

"Prosecutors said Curry and his brother, Benjamin Curry, 18, followed Reese as he walked away from a store because they believed he had stolen the weapon from their mother’s car."

A little further down in his story, Ovalle reports that Nathan's older brother, Benjamin, is "still awaiting trial for first-degree murder" in Reese's killing.

But the kicker?

Another brother, "Christopher Curry, 19, [below] is also in jail, awaiting trial for murder in an unrelated shooting," reports Ovalle.

Christopher Curry, 19, is awaiting trial for
murder.

In November 2014, Local 10's Glenna Milberg reported that the three Curry brothers were part of a family of eight siblings.

Ovalle doesn't say in his story what's become of the Curry brothers' mother, Cassandra, above in white.

But I'm reasonably certain she's not spending any sleepless nights, tossing and turning and asking herself, "Is there something I could have done to be a better parent?"