ANOKA, Minn. — A juvenile has admitted to pulling the trigger in the shooting death of a 15-year-old girl in Columbia Heights last March.
The Anoka County Attorney's Office says the teen, who was 16 at the time of the shooting, entered a guilty plea to a charge of second-degree manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Derryanna Deashia Davis. He will be sentenced as a juvenile and spend time in a correctional facility, but will serve a 57-month adult prison sentence if he fails to complete the terms set down by probation and court officials.
Davis was visiting friends at an apartment on the 3900 block of 3rd Street Northeast in Columbia Heights the night of March 24 when she was shot and killed. The defendant admitted in court this week that he picked up a handgun without checking to see if it was loaded, pointed the weapon at Davis and pulled the trigger.
"She did not deserve anything like this, she had plans, she had a future ahead of her, a good head on her shoulders," said Davis's close friend Kiarra Story during a celebration of her life, describing Derryanna as "just like bright, very smart, got good grades in school, a good friend."
“This is a horrific loss of life,” Anoka Co. Sheriff James Stuart added at the time of the shooting. “We will continue the investigation until the truth is found and justice is served."
Because the teenage gunman lives in Hennepin County, he will be transferred there from Anoka County to be evaluated and sentenced.
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