Teens get decades behind bars for deadly shooting of Lyft driver

Two teen boys have been sentenced to decades behind bars for the deadly shooting of a Lyft driver and the carjacking of another driver in Dayton in 2022.

Da’Trayvon Mitchell and Tylan Peaks, both 17, were in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday for their sentencing.

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Both teens pleaded guilty to murder and aggravated robbery charges in the past two months. Peaks also pleaded guilty to felonious assault, grand theft of a motor vehicle, and tampering with evidence.

On Wednesday, Mitchell was sentenced to 25 years to life for his role in the deadly shooting of 35-year-old Brandon Cooper in January 2022. Peaks was sentenced to 27 years to life.

In January 2022, Mitchell, Peaks, and two other teens were using the app Lyft when they were picked up by Cooper, a driver for the rideshare company.

Dayton Police responded to the 1000 block of Ferguson Avenue on reports of a crash shortly after Cooper picked up the teens. Responding officers discovered Cooper with at least one gunshot wound to his back and his car crashed into another.

The families of Cooper and the two teens were in court on Wednesday to hear the judge’s punishment and to hear from Cooper’s mother.

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“The knock on the door in the wee hours of the mourning became the worst day of my life,” Michelle Cooper said in court.

As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00 , she said her world stopped spinning when investigators told her that her one and only child had been killed in an attempted robbery.

“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about him and shed tears,” she said.

Cooper’s mother had to endure two sentencing hearings back to back on Wednesday. The first was for Mitchell, who prosecutors said actually pulled the trigger and shot the 35-year-old. Mitchell wrote a letter that he read in court, apologizing to Cooper’s family and his own family.

“If I could take everything back that I did, I would and it’s not because of the jail time,” Mitchell said. “It’s because I took someone’s life and I caused hurt to his family.”

Prosecutors said Peaks was the driving force behind a series of armed robberies of rideshare drivers. He also addressed the court.

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“It was a mistake. I didn’t kill anybody, I didn’t want anybody to get killed,” Peaks said. “I do feel back her son being murdered.”

Michelle told the judge that she must go to weekly counseling, trying to find a way to live with the overwhelming loss.

“I’m working on forgiving you because I know that forgiveness has nothing to do with you,” she said. “I will never forget.”

Two other teens involved in the case had their cases remain in juvenile court.