Aiyanna Quitman, a 19-year-old African American woman from Cleveland, OH, tragically lost her life on September 21, 2019. She was one of four victims fatally shot by Terrell Silver in a Cleveland home. The victims, including Quitman, DeJuan Willis , Christopher Monroe , and Jazmyne Lawson , were found lying on mattresses on the floor when they were shot.
Lawson was five and a half months pregnant at the time.
Terrell Silver, a 35-year-old man, was arrested in April 2023 and later 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 aggravated burglary. He was also convicted of two counts of having weapons under disability. Silver received five consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 30.5 to 36 years.
The investigation into the murders involved multiple agencies, including the Cleveland Division of Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation. The case took several years to solve, with the decomposed bodies of the victims discovered by Cleveland police on September 21, 2019.
Quitman's mother, Tammy Quitman, gave a victim impact statement during Silver's sentencing, expressing the profound grief and difficulty she has faced since her daughter's death. Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley described Silver as a "convicted mass murderer" and stated that justice for the victims' families had finally been served.
The tragic loss of Aiyanna Quitman and the other victims has left a lasting impact on their families and the community, highlighting the devastating consequences of such violent acts.
