GUILTY KY - Ne'Riah Miller, 16 mos, shot to death at her Louisville home, Aug 2014

Duwan Mason, William Mclemore and Demarkus Tramber are all charged in the Aug. 2014 death of 16-month-old Ne'Riah Miller. Miller was in her mother's arms on a porch of a west Louisville home when she was shot and killed.

Michael Dunn, Jr. and Trey Anderson pleaded guilty to lesser charges and will testify against the other three during the trial.

Opening statements are set to begin Wednesday.

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Opening statements from the prosecutor and the three different defense attorneys took place.

The prosecutor explained the details of the case… saying five men approached the Miller's front porch… firing 41 rounds total, as they walked towards her and her family.

All five were initially charged but the ones on trial are William McLemore, Demarkus Tramber and Duwan Mason.

All three defense attorneys then asked the jurors to consider where the defense is getting their testimony. Testimonies will be from the two men who took plea deals, the two men who were allegedly driving the vehicles involved and who they say have the most to lose.

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Several witnesses testified Wednesday, including LMPD Officer Jeremy Boehnlein, Metro EMS Maj. Bill Lohden and Medical Examiner Dr. Jeremy Springer were called to give their expertise on the events leading up to and following the shooting.

Miller's parents -- William Miller and Cierra Twyman -- also took the stand. Twyman, who was also shot in the attack, tearfully testified that she didn't know she was hit.

"I didn't, I just felt paralyzed," Twyman said. "I didn't know I was until everyone was in the house and I couldn't move."

William Miller, who had said he "could smell the gunpowder," agreed it was a chaotic scene, adding that he saw that his daughter Ne'riah had passed out but didn't know that she was shot.

"I see my daughter come out on the stretcher, and I was like, 'What's wrong, what's wrong, has she been hit?'" Miller said. "And (the EMTs) were like, 'Move, move, move, we got this.'"

"My great grandmother had said she didn't look like she was breathing," Twyman said. "Her stomach was swollen and it was purple and blue."

The EMS witness also said in his testimony that he didn't realize Ne'riah had been shot until he had taken off her clothes to examine her.

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In the second day of witness testimony, the prosecution focused on the details of what happened in the minutes before, during and after the shooting. They started with the woman who lived up the street.

Cristanna Danner told the jury she still remembers the sounds.

"I heard the shots and then I heard the pounding of the feet,” Danner said.

Danner said she was there when five men approached Ne'Riah Miller's house and opened fire, hitting Ne'Riah's mother and killing Ne'Riah.

Danner said she didn't see the men's faces but won't ever forget the car.

"It’s never been on that block and it was parked the wrong way directly in front of my house. I’m from a small farm town. We notice when something doesn't belong,” Danner said.

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A family member of a Louisville toddler killed more than two years ago said he saw one of the men on trial for murder the day the shooting happened.

Damion Thompson said Ne’Riah Miller’s mother is his cousin.

He said he was walking near Miller’s home when he saw two people he recognized, William McLemore and Trey Anderson.

“As I was walking past 37th Street (and I) saw Will,” said Thompson. “I saw Will and Trey.”

Thompson said he was walking to the store the day of the shooting.

“I just kept walking,” said Thompson. “They said what they said. I said what I said … They kept it moving, I kept it moving. Next thing you know, I heard gunshots and I took off running.”

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“It was pretty hectic,” said Sgt. Kristen Downs. “There were a lot of people at the scene. There were a lot of officers.”

Sgt. Kristen Downs was working in the Louisville Metro Police homicide unit at the time of the murder.

She described video recorded by detectives who responded to the crime scene at 37th and Market Streets.

“When we first got there, and throughout working the scene, there were casings on both sides of the streets,” said Downs. “A lot of projectiles from my experience.”

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Two defendants who received plea deals in exchange for their testimony took the stand Friday at the murder trial of slain 16-month-old Ne’Riah Miller.

Trey Anderson, 23, told jurors he drove defendants Duwan Mason and Michael Dunn Jr. to and from the shooting in the 100 block of South 37th Street the evening of Aug. 27, 2014.

He claimed he did not know why he was asked to drive there, only that they went down 37th Street “to see who was out.”

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Defense attorneys for Mason, as well as other co-defendants Demarkus Tramber and William McLemore, all noted through cross-examination that Anderson at first lied to police about his involvement.

Mason’s attorney, J. Bart McMahon, pointed out that his client only appeared in Anderson’s testimony in April 2016 when Anderson signed a plea deal, agreeing to a five-year sentence.

In his initial police interview, Anderson only identified Dunn by name as one of two men he drove to the scene. He identified the other man only by a nickname and selected a picture that wasn’t Mason when presented with an array of photos.

Addressing his changing statements, Anderson told Conroy he was “frightened” and that he eventually gave his current version of events because he wanted to come clean.

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When Dunn, 27, took the stand Friday afternoon, he presented a somewhat differing narrative in which he drove the blue Toyota Echo and Mason was his passenger while Anderson drove the second car with Tramber and McLemore inside.

He told the jury he and his friends were shooting in retaliation but that when he tried to fire his gun it jammed.

And while he testified Friday that Anderson stayed in his car, defense attorneys told jurors he made prior statements to police that Anderson, too, got out and fired a gun.

Dunn took a plea deal for a 10-year prison sentence in spring 2016, shortly before his trial date.

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Bringing witness testimony to a close Monday, the prosecution brought in the man whose name has been dropped countless times throughout the trial. That’s Sergeant Scott Beatty, the lead homicide detective on Ne’Riah Miller’s case.

"In this case in the first 24 hours a lot of things came up – a lot of evidence, statements,” Beatty said.

Within days of Miller's death, Beatty had Michael Dunn and Trey Anderson in custody and charged with the crime. Beatty said he tracked them down using witness descriptions of their vehicles. He said they eventually opened up and claimed three others were involved.

Beatty said, "Now this information is coming in, and this is matching up with what we’re being told at this point.”

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The jury stayed overnight and announced their verdict.

Demarkus Tramber, Duwan Mason and William McLemore were found GUILTY of wanton murder, assault in the 1st degree, and 4 counts of wanton endangerment.

Sentencing will begin at 1p.m. Wednesday, March 1st.

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The three men convicted of killing 16-month-old Ne’Riah Miller were sentenced in court Wednesday. William McLemore and Duwan Mason will spend 35 years in prison for their part in the crime. Demarkus Tramber took a deal with the Commonwealth minutes before sentencing was scheduled to begin this afternoon. He agreed to 20 years in prison without the opportunity to appeal.

The jury deliberated on the guilty verdict for nearly nine hours Tuesday night and into early Wednesday morning, but it took them less than an hour to decide how long the men will spend in prison.

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Prosecutor Ryane Conroy reminded the jury that Ne'Riah Miller is the only person who is truly serving a life sentence. She said regardless of what the jury decides, both men will have a chance to go before the parole board after a number of years.

"While I don't disagree with the concept of second chances, I don't think that we should be naive about people's behavior. We want them on the hook. We want consequences there,” Conroy said.

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Gunfire took the life of 16-month-old Ne'Riah Miller as she sat with her parents on the front porch of their Shawnee home three summers ago.

In some ways, Wednesday felt like it would never come, said Ne'Riah's great-grandmother, Sherrie Miller.

It's been 2 1/2 years of trying trips to the courthouse, facing the men accused of killing Ne'Riah. The seven-day trial wore on her and the family.

When her phone rang in the middle of the night with the news that the jury had returned guilty verdicts on the three men on trial, she could not wait to be back in the courtroom.

"I almost fell out of my bed," she said. "We are happy that it's all over, and our wounds can finally begin to heal."

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The family of a toddler said they can start healing after the men convicted in connection with her death were sentenced to prison.

Trey Anderson and Michael Dunn took plea deals in the 2014 murder of Ne'Riah Miller.

Anderson was formally sentenced to five years in prison and Dunn received a 10-year sentence.

The three men who were on trial will be sentenced at the end of next month.

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“We’re ready to move in this next level of our walk,” said Miller’s grandmother, Tijuana Twyman. “With her in our hearts, always.”

“She was loved,” said Twyman. “She was a light to everybody she came in contact with, so we want her to be remembered by love.”

“It’s been hard,” said Twyman. “We’ve been looking forward to this day.”

Twyman and Miller’s great-grandmother were in the courtroom on Monday for the sentencing.

"We're grateful,” said Twyman. “We're grateful that doors are closing to this. My daughter has the opportunity, we have the opportunity, to begin to heal, to truly heal.”

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William McLemore, Demarkus Tramber and Duwan Mason were all found guilty on charges of Murder, Assault and Wanton Endangerment in March.

Friday morning, the judge agreed with the jury's recommendation for each man's sentence. He spoke to the severity of the crime as while as the pain the case has caused so many people.

“The buzzwords in a case like this are extreme indifference to the value human life. How do you get to that place in your life where you don’t care what happens to you, and you don’t care what happens to other people because of you?" Judge McKay Chauvin said. “The verdict that the jury gave in this case was particularly thoughtful because if they sentenced you because of how they felt, you would all be doing a life sentence.”

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Sentences of 20-35 years may seem like a long time, but Ne'Riah Miller's family said no amount of time is sufficient.

“They deserve what they got. They should’ve gotten life. You take a life, a 16-month old baby that doesn’t even know what’s going on, they should’ve gotten life," Miller's grandmother Sherrie Miller said.

While this part of the case may be over, Miller's family said their journey is far from it- vowing to stay vigilant with any and all developments.

“Go ahead and appeal it. Believe me, we will be here every time that they have to be in court because I will. I’ll be here, and I’m very upset about it," Miller said.

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