TROTWOOD — A 20-year-old man who pleaded guilty to charges in connection to a deadly shooting at a Trotwood apartment complex has been sentenced.
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Donte Lamar Cotton, 20, will spend two years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of tampering with evidence and one count of reckless homicide via a bill of information, according to Montgomery County Commons Pleas Court records.
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News Center 7 previously reported that Cotton had originally pleaded not guilty to two counts of tampering with evidence on Nov. 5, 2024.
According to court documents, the second count of tampering with evidence was dismissed as part of his guilty plea.
Cotton was arrested in connection to a shooting on Oct. 22, 2024, in the 5000 block of Autumn Woods Drive in Trotwood that killed 18-year-old Ja’niyah Hardy.
As part of the plea agreement, Cotton surrendered his gun. The prosecution agreed they would not seek additional charges against him, online court records indicated.
The judge also ordered Cotton to pay almost $8,200 in restitution to the victim’s family.
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