Flip Williams' son sentenced in toddler's killing

A co-defendant got 25 years to life in prison.

STAFF REPORT

YOUNGS-TOWN — A man who pleaded guilty in the fatal drive-by shooting of a 3-year-old girl on the city’s East Side has been sentenced to 28 years to life in prison.

Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court imposed the sentence Thursday on Stoney Williams, 19, of Dorothy Avenue, in the May 5, 2007, fatal shooting of Cherish Moreland of Hilton Avenue, who was shot in the head from a car on Stewart Avenue.

“I’m sorry about what I did. If I could bring her back, I would,” Williams said before Judge Sweeney sentenced him.

The sentence consisted of 20 years to life on the aggravated murder charge, plus five consecutive years for firing a gun from a motor vehicle and three consecutive years for firing a gun at or into a house, meaning Williams will be eligible for parole after 28 years.

On Jan. 15, Judge Sweeney sentenced a co-defendant, Damon K. Clark, 23, of Dogwood Lane, the driver of the car from which the fatal shot was fired, to 25 years to life in prison. A jury convicted Clark of complicity to murder with a gun specification and complicity to discharging a gun at or into a house.

Clark and two of his friends were asked to leave a Stewart Avenue house because they were drunk, police reports said. A few minutes later, Clark returned to Stewart Avenue, driving the car from which Williams fired at a group of people standing outside, striking Cherish. The prosecution alleged Clark recruited Williams to be the gunman.

“He just confessed to save his soul and take the easy way out, I guess. But he needs to realize that there was no easy way out for my baby,” said Cherish’s mother, Charlotte Moreland.

“My baby didn’t die instantly. She suffered. ... He needs to suffer like my baby did,” said Moreland, who called for Williams to serve at least as much prison time as Clark.

Williams is a son of Willie “Flip” Williams, who was executed in October 2005 for the 1991 shooting deaths of four men in Youngstown.