2nd man pleas guilty after shots fired at relatives leaving funeral for boy, 14

ajc.com

A second Dayton man accused of following family members leaving a funeral for a 14-year-old homicide and shooting at them pleaded guilty to his role.

Thomas Michael Peck Jr., 20, pleaded guilty Monday before Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Timothy O’Connell to a lesser included offense of attempted felonious assault, according to court documents filed Tuesday.

Peck, originally charged with felonious assault, faces up to three years in prison.

His co-defendant, Daviontay Maurice Travis Hunter, 21, pleaded guilty last Wednesday to felonious assault. O’Connell immediately sentenced him to two to three years in prison.

Daviontay Hunter, left, and Thomas Peck Jr.

Credit: Montgomery County Jail

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Credit: Montgomery County Jail

Hunter and Peck had been scheduled to be tried together and Peck’s attorney filed a motion to sever their trials. However, Hunter reached a plea agreement six days after the motion was filed so O’Connell ruled the motion moot, according to court documents.

Dayton police were dispatched around 4:50 p.m. March 25 to the 1500 block of Watson Street for a shots fired complaint.

Three people said their vehicle was shot four times when they left the funeral for family member Corey Prater and were followed by a Chrysler 300 reportedly driven by Peck who was accompanied by Hunter, according to an affidavit filed in Dayton Municipal Court.

“Witnesses identified Mr. Peck and Mr. Hunter as the individuals who shot at (the) vehicle, which was occupied at the time of the shooting,” the document stated.

It is not clear whether the shots fired incident was connected to the deadly shooting nearly two weeks earlier.

Prater and 17-year-old Javonta Morgan were shot and killed the evening of March 14 in the 1600 block of Miami Chapel Road, near Louise Troy Elementary School, during a fight involving a group of boys, a 911 caller reported.

A 14-year-old boy is facing murder charges in Montgomery County Juvenile Court. The Dayton Daily News is not naming him because his case is not in adult court.

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