ALLEN COUNTY, OH (WLIO) - A Lima 19-year-old has pleaded guilty to charges involving the shooting death of a 14-year-old girl in February 2024.
Defense attorneys and prosecutors have agreed to a sentence of a minimum of 25 years and a maximum of 30 and a half years.
19-year-old Malik Dennis pleaded guilty to an amended charge of involuntary manslaughter and shooting a gun into a house, causing the death of Lauralye Sterling. Dennis was originally charged with murder, felonious assault, and tampering with evidence, but those charges were dropped as part of a plea deal. His lawyers and prosecutors have also agreed to a sentence of a minimum of 25 years and a maximum of 30 and a half years.
19-year-old Malik Dennis pleaded guilty to an amended charge of involuntary manslaughter and shooting a gun into a house, causing the death of Lauralye Sterling.
Back on February 13, 2024, Sterling was found dead from a gunshot wound in her second-story room at a home on Greenlawn Avenue. Dennis was arrested two days later and allegedly admitted to detectives he shot Sterling. During a preliminary hearing, Lima detectives said Dennis climbed an antenna on the outside of the home and fired a single shot through a window hitting Sterling. Dennis will be formally sentenced on December 3, 2024.
