Insets from left: Antawan Benson and Javen Conner (Montgomery County Prosecutor”s Office) and Isabella Carlos (Pryor Funeral Home). Background: The home in Dayton, Ohio, where Isabella was shot to death (WKEF).
A young man from Ohio has been sentenced to over 60 years in prison after a tragic incident where a 12-year-old girl was killed while she slept, all stemming from a dispute over a social media post.
On Thursday, 21-year-old Javen Conner was handed a sentence of 64 years to life for the shooting that led to the death of Isabella Carlos, a seventh grade student, as reported by the Dayton Daily News.
Conner, along with his brother, 24-year-old Antawan Benson, faced separate trials last month and were found guilty of charges including murder, firing into a residence, felonious assault, and aggravated menacing. Benson received a 67-year sentence on December 22, as announced by the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office on Facebook.
Prosecutors revealed that on August 22, 2024, Benson and Conner approached a woman sitting in her car in Trotwood to confront her regarding a social media post about their cousin. There were other women and children in the vehicle at the time.
In the early hours of August 23, 2024, at approximately 12:30 a.m., the brothers unleashed a barrage of bullets from an AK-47 and an AR-15 at three homes in Dayton. Isabella, who was asleep in one of the homes, tragically lost her life in the attack.
Police responded to the scene, but unfortunately, Isabella was pronounced dead by first responders. Authorities clarified that her home was not the intended target of the shooting.
Isabella’s father lamented the fact that he couldn’t save his daughter.
“I tried to resuscitate her, but I couldn’t,” Michael Nooks said, according to the Daily News. “As a dad you’re supposed to be able to protect your kids, but I couldn’t in that situation.”
Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. called the shooting “cowardly” and “senseless.”
“This young girl with her entire life ahead of her, her entire future, was snuffed out. A seventh grader murdered while at home. Murdered while asleep in her bed,” he reportedly said.
As Law&Crime previously reported, the brothers were indicted roughly two weeks after the shooting.
Judge Gerald Parker wanted Benson to know at his sentencing Isabella, who went by Bella, likely did not die instantly after being shot.
“It’s just gut-wrenching to try and comprehend the last few moments of Bella’s life,” Parker said, according to a courtroom report from Dayton-based ABC affiliate WKEF. “The testimony was she actually had moved from where she was sleeping. She was found half on the bed, half off the bed, which means she suffered, she struggled whether it was for a couple minutes. I hope you understand that.”
Parker lamented the fact that Benson and Conner posted on Facebook a photo of the empty clips from their weapons after the shooting. The judge called it a “sense of false bravado.”
“Y’all soft, all of y’all are weak. All of y’all soft in those pictures,” he said, per local CBS affiliate WHIO.
Isabella’s obituary called her a “beautiful and intelligent young lady.” Her aunt Donnetta Dewberry spoke at the sentencing hearing about the impact Isabella’s death has had on her family.
“My niece was laying there sleeping, getting ready for school the next day. We will never get to [see] Bella go to prom, her first love, her first date, anything,” said Dewberry.
She added: “You and your brother did somethin’ that will never be able to be taken back. Never be able to be taken back. I feel bad for your family. I feel bad for you, and I ask God to have mercy on you and your life.”
