A Lima teen indicted for the death of Ke'Vonta Cowan in 2019 has been sentenced to prison.
Na'zier Howard was sentenced to fifteen years to life after he previously pled guilty to the murder of Cowan. Lima police say that in December 2019, they responded to a call of a shooting at 225 South Kenilworth Avenue. There they found Cowan with a gunshot wound. Howard was the one who allegedly shot the victim.
Howard is currently serving a fourteen-year sentence for robbing Hermies Party Shop and Little Caesar's in January of 2020. His sentencing for the murder will run consecutively with his robbery sentence. Before handing down the sentence, Judge Jeffrey Reed addressed the court on how this case is part of a bigger problem in the area.
"This is the current poster child of what's happening in our community with young people and guns. I said it before and I'll say it again, I get tired of it. And unless the community is willing to take charge of themselves and their families, it's just going to continue. We don't need anymore Na'zier Howards and certainly, we don't want anymore Ke'Vonta Cowans who died too young," stated Judge Jeffrey Reed, Allen County Common Pleas Court.
Howard will not receive credit for time already spent in jail.
