Cleveland 'mass murderer' gets 5 life sentences for killing 4, including pregnant teen

CLEVELAND (TCN) -- A 35-year-old man will spend the rest of his life behind bars after a judge handed him five consecutive life sentences for killing four people, including a woman who was 5 1/2 months pregnant.

The Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office announced Terrell Silver’s sentencing guidelines on Monday, Sept. 30, adding he will not be eligible for parole and must serve an additional 30.5 to 36 years. Silver was convicted on Sept. 16 of seven counts of aggravated murder, four counts of murder, five counts of felonious assault, one count of attempted murder, and one count of aggravated battery in connection with the deaths of DeJuan Willis, 20, Aiyanna Quitman, 19, Christopher Monroe, 23, Jazmyne Lawson, 18, and Lawson’s unborn child. Silver was also convicted by a judge of two counts of having weapons under disability.

According to the prosecuting attorney’s statement, Silver fatally shot the victims at a residence near East 144th Street and Kinsman Road between Sept. 7, 2019, and Sept. 21, 2019. The four victims were reportedly lying down on two mattresses on the floor when they were shot and killed.

Silver was arrested in April 2023 and indicted on the charges.

WJW-TV reports Silver denied killing the victims, but the judge told him, "That killer was you. That was what the jury found, and that is what I am sentencing you on."

Quitman’s mother gave a victim impact statement at the sentencing, saying the time since her daughter’s killing "has been the most difficult five years of my life."

She added, "You have destroyed four families and five lives. And for what?"

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley said in his news release, "Terrell Silver is a convicted mass murderer. He is the worst of the worst. His victims' families finally have some answers they need to try to understand this horrific event. Ultimately, justice for this mass murderer awaits him in prison, hell, or both."

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