2nd shooter in Laylah Petersen slaying gets 30 years

The man who was seeking vengeance in another homicide case and targeting someone else when he took part in a shooting that killed 5-year-old Laylah Petersen was sentenced to 30 years in prison Thursday.

Arlis Gordon, 24, received the sentence during an emotion-filled hearing that ended with deputies escorting both families out of the courtroom separately.

"We never hurt anybody, we never did anything to deserve this," said Robert Petersen, Laylah's father. "We were just good people who loved each other and he took her away from us for no reason."

Petersen said his daughter's death nearly destroyed him and that Gordon acted in cowardice.

Amanda Legler described how Laylah, her goddaughter, brought joy and laughter to all who knew her.

"Not only did you take her from us but then you sat in silence for months on end," she said, later adding: "Not a day goes by that we're not haunted by your actions."

Gordon told the judge he was remorseful and has "outgrown" his "childish acts and ways of thinking" during his time in jail. His attorney said Gordon had acted in drug-and-alcohol-fueled anger after a jury acquitted the man charged with killing his stepbrother.

Gordon and another man, Carl Barrett Jr., 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.

Robin Reed, Gordon's aunt, said it was "heart-wrenching" for their family to learn what had happened. She asked for forgiveness from Laylah's family and mercy from the judge.

"He is not the monster that the media and the chief of police portrayed him to be," she said. "He's not a bad young man, he made a mistake."

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Wagner said if everyone acted like Gordon, as a vigilante, there would be "chaos and anarchy."

"We live in a society of laws and everybody in this community is expected to follow the laws," he said before issuing the sentence, which includes 19 years of extended supervision after the 30 years in prison.

"You have left the family with a legacy of sadness," he said.

Gordon had pleaded guilty to reduced charges of second-degree reckless homicide and three counts of second-degree recklessly endangering safety, as a party to the crime.

The second shooter, Barrett, took his case to trial and was convicted by a jury of first-degree reckless homicide and three counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety. He was sentenced to 65 years in prison last week. Prosecutors had painted Barrett, 21, as a cold, callous person, all too willing to pick up a gun and involve himself in outside disputes.

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, loaned 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.