Man receives life sentences in Cleveland murders

CLEVELAND (WJW) – A man found guilty of killing four people in a Cleveland home will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Terrell Silver, 35, was convicted earlier this month in the murders that took place in 2019.

Silver was found guilty of seven counts of aggravated murder, four counts of murder, five counts of felonious assault, one count of attempted murder and one count of attempted burglary.

Prosecutors said Silver was in a home with the four victims near East 144 ^th St. and Kinsman Rd. in Cleveland sometime between Sept. 7, 2019, and Sept. 21, 2019.

The decomposing bodies of the victims were discovered by officers with the Cleveland Division of Police on Sept. 21, 2019.

The victims were identified as 20-year-old Dejuan Damar Willis, 19-year-old Aiyanna Quitman, 23-year-old Christopher Monroe and 18-year-old Jazmyne Lawson.

Aiyanna’s mother, Tammy Quitman, was one of several people who gave a victim impact statement ahead of the sentencing.

“This has been the most difficult 5 years of my life,” Tammy Quitman said.

“I will never be the same,” she said about the loss.

“I will never have the honor of taking my daughter to a bridal shop for a wedding dress,” Quitman told the court.

“You have destroyed four families and five lives – and for what?” she said in an emotional statement.

Silver also addressed the court.

“I sincerely send my condolences…I am not responsible for these crimes,” Silver said.

Silver continued to declare his innocence in a lengthy statement. He later argued with the judge about witnesses in the case.

“That killer was you. That was what the jury found, and that is what I am sentencing you on,” the judge told Silver.

The judge said she had sentenced him in two other cases in the past.

“You killed four people and an unborn baby,” the judge said.

She sentenced Silver to five terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole on the murders. He was also sentenced to more than two decades on other charges.

“Consecutive prison terms are necessary to punish you and protect the public,” the judge told Silver.

Consecutive terms mean each sentence is served one after the other.

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