This story was updated with additional information and photos.
One of the two gunmen who prosecutors say sprayed approximately 30 bullets into a Silverton home in 2023, killing a 9-year-old girl, has pleaded guilty to charges including manslaughter.
As part of the plea agreement, Qasseem Dixon, 27, was sentenced to 30 to 35½ years in prison. Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Robert Winkler imposed that sentence on Tuesday, June 3.
The shooting happened the night of July 10, 2023 on Plainfield Road. Da’Myiah Barton-Pickens was inside her grandmother’s house with a friend, dancing and making TikTok videos, when prosecutors say Dixon and now-29-year-old Ryan Meliek Brown opened fire at the house.
Da’Myiah was struck once in the chest. Her friend was grazed by a bullet. Her grandmother, Latisha Copeland, was not wounded.
In court Tuesday, Copeland described holding Da’Myiah, who was mortally wounded, in her arms.
She said Dixon’s reckless decision “not only broke us − it shattered all our hearts into a million little pieces.”
“Why should you be able to continue to live, when my grandbaby had to die?” Copeland said.
An SKS rifle and a 9 mm handgun were used in the shooting. Authorities have said that the intended target was a man related to Da’Myiah.
In court, Dixon indicated that the shooting was retaliation for an earlier incident. He said he never intended to harm children.
“That wasn’t my intent. That ain’t what I wanted to do,” he said. “I’m sorry it happened.”
Brown, the second accused gunman, has a court hearing set for July 15. He faces charges including aggravated murder and felonious assault.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Man sentenced to 30 to 35 years for drive-by shooting that killed 9-year-old girl
Reporting by Kevin Grasha, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
