Top inset: Synthia Elliott (Good Shepherd Funeral & Cremation Services). Bottom inset: Selassie Spencer (Omaha Police Department). Background: the home where Synthia was killed (KMTV).
A Nebraska man learned his fate for firing bullets into a home at the wrong address and killing an innocent 15-year-old girl as she slept.
Selassie Spencer, 20, was sentenced to 75 to 90 years in prison with parole possible after 40 years in the death of Synthia Elliott. He pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon. He will have a mandatory release date in about 47 years, The Omaha World-Herald reported.
“[It’s] some type of relief,” Elliott family friend Malaiya Wagner said after the judge’s decision, local ABC affiliate KETV reported. “She deserved life. She was only 15. She was sleeping in her own home.”
Spencer apologized, saying, “Taking a life is a burden I will carry the rest of my life,” the outlet reported.
Police said Spencer and three others fired a hail of bullets from the driveway into a home at 37th and Pinkney Streets in Omaha on Nov. 30, 2022. Synthia was found dead in her bedroom. Omaha police quickly arrested Spencer and three others. One man has pleaded no contest and awaits sentencing, while the other two are set for trial in March.
The shooters tried to find their target’s address using Google Maps but couldn’t find it, so they found the nearest home instead, the World-Herald reported.
“It’s hard to comprehend exactly what they were thinking,” Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine told local NBC affiliate WOWT. “But it appears the person they were intending to shoot wasn’t [Elliott], and they might have even been at the wrong address.”
Synthia’s grandmother spoke out to the World-Herald in January 2023, saying she thought somebody put the shooters up to it.
“Either that or they just totally got the wrong house,” she said.
Spencer’s defense attorney, Michael Bianchi, noted his client’s upbringing and criminal history, including serving time in state prison before he killed Synthia.
“While I can go ahead and say all these things about my client — what a wonderful mom he has, a tough childhood. … We’re here today because this poor young lady is not here, because of the stupidity of our client,” Bianchi said.
Synthia’s obituary said she attended North High School, where she was a member of the Black Student Leadership Council and was an athletic assistant for the sports department. She was “truly an amazing young lady” who enjoyed listening to music and loved dancing and making TikToks.
“But most importantly she loved family gatherings,” the obituary said. “Synthia’s first instinct was to help out those in need. She didn’t wait for anyone to ask to ask she just did it. She was always ready to offer what she could for others. She gave with out any hidden agenda. Synthia was the friend everyone wanted, but didn’t deserve.”
