TOLEDO, Ohio — A Lucas County judge sentenced a Toledo man for charges he was convicted of in two separate 2022 murders: 10-year-old Damia Ezell and 21-year-old Cayvon Wells.
Byron Cleveland, 20, pleaded guilty to one count each of involuntary manslaughter in both murders after taking a plea deal. His sentences, handed down on Sept. 14, combine to 39 years with a maximum sentence of 53 years.
He also pleaded guilty to three other charges in Wells' murder: felonious assault, discharge of a firearm on or near prohibited premises and participation in a criminal gang.
A judge also handed down a decision for Carmanetta Wilson's role in the death of Damia, who was killed when authorities said someone shot into her uncle's vehicle in which she was a passenger in the 1900 block of Collingwood Boulevard.
Wilson withdrew her not guilty plea and entered a plea of no contest to obstructing justice. Her sentencing is set for Sept. 28 at 9 a.m.
Dearryl Cornelious, charged with aggravated murder and attempted murder in Damia's death, is due back in court on Nov. 27 at 9 a.m.
A judge also sentenced Stephaun Gaston, 29, to five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to one count of participation in a criminal gang for the murder of Wells. His maximum sentence is seven-and-a-half years.
Wells was fatally shot while in his car in a central Toledo alley on the afternoon of May 15, 2022.
Javell Mulligan-Giles, 22, was also sentenced on Sept. 7 to 10 years in prison after he took an Alford plea to involuntary manslaughter and participation in a criminal gang he faced in Wells' murder, both charges he faced in Wells' murder. He has a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.
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