Shooter in Laylah Petersen homicide gets 65 years
One of two men convicted of firing shots into a Milwaukee home and killing 5-year-old Laylah Petersen as she sat on her grandfather's lap was sentenced to 65 years in prison Thursday, essentially a life sentence.
Carl Barrett Jr., 21, was convicted by a jury of first-degree reckless homicide and three counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, all as a party to the crime, after a four-day trial in September. He also was sentenced to 35 years of extended supervision.
"When the gunfire started, you shattered the security, the peacefulness of a community," Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Wagner said.
The judge followed the recommendation of prosecutor Sara Beth Hill who painted Barrett as a cold, callous person, all too willing to pick up a gun and involve himself in outside disputes.
Barrett continued to maintain his innocence on Thursday but expressed sympathy for what happened to Laylah and her family. His attorney, Christopher Hartley, emphasized Barrett had no prior criminal convictions before this case.
Laylah's godmother, Amanda Legler, spoke of Laylah's charisma and how difficult it was to find words to express her feelings.
"Her innocence radiated through and through, along with the laughter and joy that she brought us and that deserves to be recognized today," Legler said. "Laylah lived a short life, but her life was full of love."
"Her story has impacted the community and we can only hope that her story can restore the compassion that our city desperately needs," she concluded.
The trial outlined how investigators pieced together a case implicating Barrett and Arlis Gordon as the shooters.
On the evening of Nov. 6, 2014, Gordon was upset because a jury had found a man charged with killing his half-brother not guilty earlier in the day. Gordon and Barrett thought they were shooting up the home of the acquitted defendant's girlfriend, but it was actually Laylah's grandparents' house. Laylah, her sister Destiny and her grandparents were sitting in the living room when bullets pierced the picture window.
Gordon pleaded guilty to second-degree reckless homicide and three counts of second-degree recklessly endangering safety, as a party to the crime, and is scheduled for sentencing next week.
Paul Farr, who drove Barrett and Gordon to the house, was sentenced to five months in jail with the promise of a decade in the prison system if he violates the terms of his probation. A fourth man, Divonte Forbes, lent Gordon a gun and was in the car with Farr while the other two men fired at the home, according to trial testimony.
Forbes was not charged in Laylah's killing, but he was convicted of shooting up a house earlier that day as part of a retaliatory feud and sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Farr and Forbes testified at Barrett's trial.
