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 21-year-old Ohio man is headed to prison for more than six decades for his role in shooting up a trio of homes, killing a sleeping 12-year-old girl — all over a social media post.
Javen Conner was sentenced Thursday to 64 years to life in prison for the shooting death of seventh grader Isabella Carlos, according to the Dayton Daily News.
Conner and his brother, 24-year-old Antawan Benson, were convicted last month in separate trials on charges including murder, discharging a firearm into a habitation, felonious assault and aggravated menacing. Benson was sentenced Dec. 22 to 67 years in prison, the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office said.
According to prosecutors, Benson and Conner approached a woman in her car in Trotwood on Aug. 22, 2024, to confront her about a social media post involving their cousin. There was another woman and children present in the car.
Hours later, around 12:30 a.m. on Aug. 23, 2024, the brothers riddled three homes in Dayton with bullets fired from an AK-47 and AR-15. Inside one of the houses was Isabella, who was sleeping in her bed.
Police responded to the home and first responders pronounced Isabella dead at the scene. Her home was not the target, per cops.
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.”
