DAYTON — One of two brothers convicted of shooting into a Dayton home, hitting and killing a 12-year-old girl, has been sentenced to prison.
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Antawan Benson, 24, was sentenced to 67 to 72.5 years to life in prison on Monday.
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Benson and his brother, Javen Conner, were both recently convicted of the murder of 12-year-old Isabella Carlos, who was shot and killed while she was sleeping in August 2024.
“My niece was laying there sleeping, getting ready for school the next day. She deserved that. We will never get to (see) Bella go to prom, he first love, her first date, anything,” Donnetta Dewberry, Carlos’ aunt, said during Benson’s sentencing.
Police said the brothers’ gunfire missed their intended target.
As shown on News Center 7 at 5:00, the judge did not hold back when addressing Benson at Monday’s sentencing.
“I’ve seen the videos and the pictures of all the boys with the Dracos and the AR’s,” Judge Gerald Parker said. “A bunch of fake, wannabe NBA YoungBoys who can’t look a person in their eyes who they have a beef with, and say, ‘This is why I have a beef with you.’”
At trial, prosecutors said what led the brothers to spray bullets into three homes, including Carlos’, was a spat on social media.
“Instead, they get these guns, and they post on the ‘Gram, they post on Facebook, and they show videos and pictures of empty clips of what they just did, send it back to their own phone portraying this sense of false bravado, toughness,” Parker said. “Y’all soft, all of y’all are weak. All of y’all soft in those pictures.”
Benson apologized before learning his life sentence.
“I would like to apologize to the family, and more so apologize to my family for putting them through this situation. And that’s really it,” Benson said.
Dewberry said she wanted Benson to “ask God for forgiveness” every day he’s in prison.
“I want you to think about it, and you think about it hard,” she said. “Think about it hard, (you) hear? Think about what you and your brother did to my family and these people’s family. Y’all think about it because it makes no sense.”
Benson could get his first shot at parole in 67 years if he behaves.
Conner is scheduled to be sentenced next month.
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