15-year-old sentenced to 100 years in prison for death of woman outside a club

(Gray News) - A 15-year-old was sentenced to 100 years in prison for the gang-related shooting death of a 26-year-old woman outside a club. [CBS7]

A teenager has been handed a century-long prison sentence for his role in a fatal shooting outside an Indiana nightclub that claimed the life of an unintended victim caught in gang crossfire.

Jo'Mayze Larry, 15, received the 100-year sentence on July 29 after a June conviction on multiple serious charges stemming from the Feb. 2, 2025, death of Dayla Swain, 26. The shooting occurred outside Sonny Ray's in Anderson, Indiana, and marked a case of mistaken identity in what authorities characterized as a failed assassination attempt on a different target — a witness in an unrelated homicide.

The conviction brought guilty verdicts on five separate counts: felony murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, criminal organization activity and unlawful firearm possession. Prosecutors tied Larry to Mickey Cobra Nation, a gang organization, with his alleged co-conspirator Rashawn Samuels also named as a gang member involved in the incident.

At the time of the shooting, Larry was 14 years old, a detail that carries legal significance under Indiana law. The state's juvenile statutes permit defendants who committed crimes as minors to petition for sentence modification after completing 20 years of their prison term, potentially offering Larry a path toward eventual release.

The case underscores ongoing concerns about gang violence and the collateral damage inflicted on innocent bystanders. Swain's death resulted from what officials described as a botched targeting operation, leaving her family to mourn a woman whose only connection to the underlying criminal dispute remains unclear from available court records.