EUCLID, Ohio — Anita Deal said she almost lost faith, but on Thursday, justice came her way in the form of two life sentences.
“Well, I’m happy, I’m thankful. God delivered today,” Deal said.
Duane Jackson and Leroy Billips were convicted in the drive-by shooting of Deal's son Maurco Toler; he was just 13. Billips and Jackson, at the time of the shooting, were high school students and football standouts with no criminal record, according to their defense attorneys.
“I have to listen to videos just to hear my son say I love you, just to hear my son say his brother’s name,” said Deal.
December 11, 2021, Toler was visiting a friend in Euclid near 260th Street and Zeaman Avenue; he was about to knock on the door when a Ford Escape drove by. Jackson and Billups were inside and fired shots from the car, ultimately killing Toler.
“My son doesn’t get anything, all we get to do is look at urns, all we get to do is celebrate my son, put him on a t-shirt, on a mug, on a rug,” said Deal.
Thursday, Billips’ attorney asked the judge for leniency in his sentence.
“You see my client has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, unfortunately for him there has been a lot of gun violence in his life,” said attorney Joseph Lonardo.
Toler’s family made it abundantly clear they don’t support their loved one’s convicted killers receiving any leniency.
“If you had the trauma of losing someone to gun violence, you shouldn’t have ever wanted to go out to do the same thing, whether if it was for my brother or not, that shouldn’t have ever been in your mind at all,” said Toler’s oldest sister Cadrionya Thompson.
Thursday, the judge sentenced both men to life in prison; Jackson is eligible for parole after 32 years, and Billips is eligible after 25 years.
“You were so much of a good kid you should’ve stuck with you knew—football, not the streets,” said Thompson. “You want a lesser sentence so you don’t have to do that time.”
This chapter isn’t closed for this family just yet; the U.S. Marshals are still looking for a third suspect, Javyonne Stewart, in this case. Investigators said Stewart was involved in the shooting as well.
“One more, one more and god is going to deliver him too,” said Deal.
