Insets, clockwise from top right: Jayden Sorensen, Devonte Parker, Juan Davis, Katherine Treadway (WKYC/YouTube). Background: Luis Diaz (GoFundMe).
A group of “idiots” in Ohio are heading to prison for killing a 3-year-old in an “outrageous” shooting attack that was orchestrated by a woman who was mad at her neighbor, according to prosecutors.
Katherine Treadway, Juan Davis, Devonte Parker and Jayden Sorensen were all sentenced Tuesday for the death of toddler Luis Diaz in Cleveland on Sept. 28, 2023, according to local NBC affiliate WKYC. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley announced two of their convictions in a press release last week, with Treadway and Sorensen both accepting plea deals, while Davis and Parker were found guilty by a Cuyahoga County jury.
Treadway confessed to unleashing Davis, her boyfriend, and the others on a neighbor who shared a duplex with her at West 66th Street and Denison Avenue. She said Davis and the others arrived at her residence with multiple guns, including a rifle, and opened fire on a vehicle that the neighbor was getting in. Davis was the getaway driver while Parker and Sorensen were the shooters. The neighbor was shot and injured, but survived. He had an 11-month-old in the car with him as well, who was not harmed.
“An argument ensued between Katherine Treadway, 31, and the male victim, 31, outside of their duplex residence,” the prosecutor’s office said in its press release. “After the argument, Katherine Treadway called her boyfriend Juan Davis, 35, several times and moved her vehicle out of the driveway. A few minutes later, Juan Davis drove to a nearby street and Devonte Parker, 30, and Jayden Sorensen, now 18 (16 at the time of the incident), exited the vehicle. Parker, holding a handgun, and Sorensen, holding a rifle, ran towards the rear of a nearby residence and fired multiple shots across the street towards the victimsʼ vehicle. Parker and Sorensen ran back to Davisʼs vehicle where Davis was waiting with the car still running. All three individuals then fled the scene.”
Davis and Parker were both charged with murder, attempted murder, felonious assault, involuntary manslaughter, discharge of firearm on or near prohibited premises, and having weapons under disability. Treadway and Sorensen pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, attempted murder, felonious assault and having weapons under disability. Sorensen also admitted to improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle.
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The judge overseeing the group’s cases, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Shannon M. Gallagher, tore into the defendants in court Tuesday at their sentencing hearing, saying they had “stolen the life of a baby” with Luis’ death, according to WKYC.
“It will never leave my mind that the little boy, I will probably picture him in my head for the rest of my life, was 42 inches tall,” Gallagher said. “I do not know why this sticks with me so much, but it’s haunting because he was so tall. We’re never going to find out how tall this little boy was going to be because his life was stolen from him. He’s never going to grow up. We are never going to see how tall he was going to be. He’s never going to get a driver’s license. He’s never going to fall in love and have the opportunity to have his own kids. That is heartbreaking.”
Luis’ family and friends, who were in attendance and have launched a GoFundMe, also condemned the group for taking the young boy’s life, saying he was “very special” and that they hoped to see “justice from this,” WKYC reports. His grandfather asked Gallagher to hand down the most severe sentence possible for each of them.
“I miss my grandson a lot,” Luis’ grandpa said. “I used to see this on the news. Never thought it was going to happen to me or my family. And it did. Now, when I see these types of cases on the news, I cry.”
Holding up photos of Luis, his father reportedly said: “All of this has been hard and stressful. I haven’t been myself since I lost my first child.”
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O’Malley said in his press release announcing Davis and Parker’s convictions that the facts surrounding Luis’ murder case were ones that will forever stand out.
“Luis Diaz died because these four defendants are simply idiots,” O’Malley said. “Simply outrageous.”
