In the spring of 2014, the life of 18-year-old Diontrey Claiborne was cut tragically short. A senior at Baker High School with a passion for basketball, band, and music, he was looking forward to his graduation in May. On the night of Saturday, March 29, 2014, Claiborne was at a party at the Baker Civic Club when gunfire erupted, ending his life and the lives of two other teenagers.
The chaos of that evening also claimed the lives of 15-year-old Kendal Dorsey and 15-year-old Marcell
Franklin. Another young man, Javaughn Simmons, who was 19 at the time, was also shot but survived his injuries. Investigators later determined that Simmons was the intended target of the attack. The party, attended by approximately 75 to 100 teenagers, had minimal security, with only two guards present.
The investigation into the triple homicide led authorities to Nakeydran Williams, who was just 16 years old at the time of the shooting. Williams was subsequently arrested and charged as an adult with three counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted second-degree murder. The community was left reeling from the violence that had taken three young lives.
In February 2016, as his trial was about to begin, Nakeydran Williams, then 17, accepted a plea deal. He pleaded guilty to three counts of manslaughter and one count of attempted second-degree murder. For his actions, Williams was sentenced to 40 years in prison, with the sentences to be served concurrently. While the plea deal brought a legal conclusion to the case, it did little to ease the profound loss felt by the families of Diontrey Claiborne, Kendal Dorsey, and Marcell Franklin.
