Brown had faced up to 31½ years in prison after he pleaded guilty in April to involuntary manslaughter in addition to three-year and five-year firearm specifications as well as discharge of a firearm on or near prohibited premises and improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle.
As part of his plea two counts each of murder and felonious assault were dismissed.
Police responded early March 26, 2022, to the 1100 block of North Broadway Street near Harvard Boulevard in Dayton after receiving multiple reports of gunfire. When officers arrived they found a crashed vehicle and an unresponsive man with multiple gunshot wounds inside. The victim, later identified as Render, succumbed to his injuries two days later.
Brown’s defense attorney Travis Dunnington requested he receive the minimum sentence as an appropriate punishment because Chandler had no prior record and “was only acting under the misguided belief he needed to protect his mother.”
Chandler interceded between his mother and Render after his brother said his mother was thrown down the stairs and she had been grabbed her by the neck, his attorney wrote in a sentencing memorandum.
In a call to his mother, Brown said: “I killed him ‘cause I was protecting you. … I’m your protector. You’re my only mom. I won’t get another one!” However, his mother said he overreacted and Brown asked his mother whether she now saw him as a “monster,” the document stated.
“These are not the typical emotions of a killer but of an eighteen-year-old realizing he’d overreacted and changed so many lives forever,” Dunnington wrote.
Credit: Montgomery County Jail
Credit: Montgomery County Jail
Montgomery County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Erin Leigh Claypoole requested the court impose the maximum sentence.
She wrote in her sentencing memo that Chandler sought out a gun, followed Render in a car driven by his friend and fired at least eight times as they drove past Render’s car before speeding off without seeking medical attention for the gunshot victim.
“This was not something that happened in the heat of the moment, the defendant took steps to plan it, followed the victim, and carried out his plan. He put any other drivers that would have been on the road at risk,” she wrote.
In addition to prison time, Brown must pay restitution for funeral and burial expenses of more than $5,200, according to his plea agreement.
Brown’s co-defendant, 18-year-old TyeJuan A. Johnson of Dayton, was acquitted in February of murder and other charges in Render’s death.
Johnson, who was a juvenile at the time of the shooting, had been accused of providing the firearm used by Brown. The gun has still not been found, prosecutors said.
Following a bench trial, Skelton wrote in his verdict that prosecutors “failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt all the essential elements” of the charges and ordered Johnson’s immediate release from custody.
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