Five-year-old Laylah Petersen, a Caucasian female, was tragically killed on the evening of November 6, 2014, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was sitting on her grandfather's lap inside his home near 58th and Fairmount when multiple gunshots were fired into the residence from outside. One of the bullets struck Laylah in the head, and she later died at a hospital.
The shooting was a devastating case of mistaken identity, as the perpetrators targeted the wrong house.
The investigation revealed that the shooting was an act of retaliation. Earlier that day, a man had been acquitted in a homicide case. Arlis Gordon, whose half-brother was the victim in that case, sought revenge. Upset by the verdict, Gordon, along with Carl Barrett, decided to shoot at the home of the acquitted man's girlfriend. However, they went to the wrong address and instead opened fire on the home where Laylah Petersen was with her family.
Nearly a year after the fatal shooting, authorities announced the arrests of three suspects: 23-year-old Arlis Gordon, 20-year-old Carl Barrett, and 24-year-old Paul Farr. Gordon and Barrett were identified as the shooters, while Farr was the getaway driver. Gordon and Barrett were charged with first-degree reckless homicide, and Farr was charged with two counts of harboring or aiding a felon.
Arlis Gordon eventually pleaded guilty to second-degree reckless homicide. Carl Barrett went to trial and was found guilty of first-degree reckless homicide by a jury. He was sentenced to 65 years in prison. Paul Farr, the driver, was sentenced to five months in jail and probation. The senseless act of violence that cut short a young girl's life was the result of a misguided attempt at vengeance that tragically struck an innocent family.
