A Louisiana man admitted to fatally shooting a Baton Rouge teenager using an AK-47 outside of a gas station in 2022 and has been sentenced to eight years in prison for attempted manslaughter.
Reports identified the suspect as Cleveland Joseph Ely, who was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment. However, 12 years of his sentence were suspended, and he was convicted of illegal use of a weapon and obstruction of justice.
Man Admits To Killing Teenager With AK-47
Investigators believe that the victim, 14-year-old Dion Williams, threatened Ely's then-13-year-old son shortly before the shooting. Police said that by the time of the incident, the suspect was not aware of the trouble he was in.
The suspect told police officers that Williams and several other individuals approached his car because of an ongoing dispute between rival groups. He also said that at the time, he believed that the individual was armed.
Ely was originally scheduled to face a second-degree murder trial next week, where he could have been sentenced to a life term if he had been convicted. However, his plea deal on Monday puts an end to the case, according to WBRZ.
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The incident occurred on Jan. 9, 2022, right outside the Save More Food Mart on Lobdell Boulevard. Law enforcement officials said that Ely fired 10 shots and struck Williams three times, two of which were in the chest and the last was on the hand.
There were also reports that the victim's family decided to forgive Ely for the entire incident. Additionally, defense lawyer Thomas Damico said that his client would have raised the issue of self-defense if his case had gone to trial, noting that he was only trying to defend his son.
Defending His Son
Ely's fatal shooting of Williams occurred two hours before one of the teenagers the victim was with, 18-year-old Shawn George, was found dead of gunshot wounds less than a mile from the gas station, The Advocate reported.
He added that his thought process at the time was that the news said he was shot two hours later, adding that he, "might have made it (there) because the distance from the store to there wasn't far."
The case comes after a similar incident took place in Baton Rouge, where a 15-year-old was arrested by police and charged in connection with a deadly shooting at a local nightclub. The Baton Rouge Police Department identified the victim as 24-year-old Prenesha Wagner.
The suspect in the case was charged with one count of principal to first-degree murder and six counts of principal to attempted first-degree murder. He was later booked in the Baton Rouge Juvenile Detention Center, as per Yahoo News.
