A Toledo man already imprisoned for wounding the elder of two young brothers while they played basketball near their home in 2021 pleaded guilty Monday afternoon to reduced charges for the younger brother’s death in the same shooting.
Under a deal with prosecutors in Lucas County Common Pleas Court, Tyler Williams, 23, of the 3000 block of Nebraska Avenue, was then sentenced to 20 years for involuntary manslaughter and shooting on or near prohibited premises, bringing his total time for the shootings to 30 years.
The plea bargain included a pledge by Williams that he will not seek early judicial release, although he remains eligible for good-behavior credit or up to five additional years for bad behavior at the discretion of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections.
Nathan Sumner, 11, was killed and Miguel Sumner, 14, survived a head wound when the pair were shot in the 300 block of Austin Street on a summer evening by assailants who fled in a car afterward. Marquise Figures, 18, of the 400 block of Martin Street, pleaded guilty in August to involuntary manslaughter and attempted murder in the same case and received a negotiated 20-year sentence.
A Toledo police detective said during a juvenile-court hearing for Figures, before his case was bound over to adult court, that Williams told investigators the Sumner brothers were shot in retaliation for shootings at the Williams family’s house on Mayville Avenue. The Williams family, the detective said, suspected an older brother, Corey Sumner, was involved in those shootings.
Williams did not address the court before his sentencing Monday, nor did Judge Lindsay Navarre comment at all on the case before formally pronouncing the sentence.
Vera Sanders, the director of victim services for the county prosecutor’s office, read a letter from the Sumner family stating that the family wished to “bring awareness to the devastating effect of gun violence” by noting, among other things, that a 5-year-old younger brother witnessed his siblings’ shootings and that Miguel had to be told of Nathan’s death when he regained consciousness.
As to Williams, the letter’s unnamed author wrote, “I wish nothing good upon his empty soul,” before asking Judge Navarre to sentence him “to as much time as you’re allowed to give.”
Judge Navarre said Williams’ new sentence broke down to 10 years for involuntary manslaughter, seven years for the prohibited-premises charge, and three years for firearms specifications attached to those charges.
Williams had pleaded guilty Feb. 23, 2023, to felonious assault for Miguel Sumner’s wounding, but that plea agreement did not encompass the charges related to Nathan Sumner’s death. He was re-indicted for aggravated murder after Figures’ case was resolved.
First Published January 27, 2025, 7:13 p.m.