DAYTON — Lawyers for a man accused of shooting into three homes and killing a 12-year-old girl claim he wasn’t even at the scene.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, 12-year-old Isabella Carlos was shot and killed while sleeping in her bed in June 2024.
>>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 2 men arrested in connection to shooting death of 12-year-old girl
Police arrested two brothers about two weeks after the shooting, Javen Connor and Antawan Benson.
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Investigators said their gunfire missed the intended target and killed an innocent little girl.
Benson’s trial started on Tuesday.
His defense lawyers claimed he was on a FaceTime call when the shooting happened and couldn’t have been there.
As previously reported by News Center 7, the shooting happened on June 23, 2024, along West Fairview Avenue.
911 callers reported a hailstorm of bullets that struck three homes.
Officers believe the target was a duplex next door, but at least one of the bullets went into Isabella’s bedroom and killed her.
Prosecutors said the two young men had an ongoing dispute with a woman who lived in the duplex.
“She died in the arms of her legal guardian, Michael Nooks. The defendant, Antawan Benson, and his brother were the ones that killed her, and that’s why we are here today,” assistant prosecuting attorney Joshua Rizzo said in his opening statement.
Prosecutors told jurors that the witnesses would share the events leading up to the shooting and where Benson fits.
However, Benson’s lawyers claimed he doesn’t fit into the shooting scene at all.
They said he was on a FaceTime call from 11:45 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Dayton police were called to the scene about 12:30 a.m., so they claim Benson couldn’t have been involved.
He told jurors they wouldn’t hear anything to implicate Benson.
“We have no DNA evidence from the scene, we have no video evidence, we have no fingerprints, we have no cell phone sites geolocation,” defense lawyer John Merrell said.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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