Joshua Brown Gets Up To 50 Years In Prison For Killing 12-Year-Old Kadejah Davis-Talton Over Cellphone

Man Gets Up To 50 Years For Killing Girl Over Cellphone
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Almost two years ago, Kadejah Davis-Talton, then 12, was shot to death at her home in Detroit over a disagreement about a cellphone. On Tuesday, the man convicted in her killing was told he could face 50 years in prison.

Wayne County Circuit Judge Vonda Evans sentenced Joshua Brown, age 21, to 24 to 50 years for second-degree murder, 14 to 30 years for assault with intent to murder, which he is to serve concurrently, and an additional mandatory two years for a felony firearm charge, according to the Detroit Free Press.

According to prosecutors, the man's mother, Heather Brown, drove her son to and from Davis-Talton's home on Jan. 31, 2012 after she had gotten in a dispute over her missing cellphone with Almanda Talton, the girl's mother.

Talton said she found a phone in public restroom at a tax business and gave it to an employee, according CBS Detroit. She thought Joshua Brown came to her home to discuss something else, and then shut the door on him after talking to him briefly. Brown, then 19, fired several shots through the door, according to prosecutors, striking and killing Kadejah Davis-Talton.

According to the Free Press, Evans said Tuesday the phone was eventually found in Talton's car.

“Why would two mothers risk their children’s lives over such a minor thing as a cellphone?” Evans asked before sentencing, the Detroit News reports. “A mother’s worst nightmare was experienced the night Kadejah was killed.”

Evans also told Brown, "You should have been man enough to let her fight her own battle instead of bringing you into her mess."

Davis-Talton was a sixth-grade student who had straight A's and had just celebrated her birthday before her death, according to WXYZ-TV.

Joshua Brown was found guilty in a second trial after a prior mistrial. Heather Brown was charged as an accessory after the fact for her role in driving her son to the house. She accepted a plea deal in October and received nine months of jail time with work release and five years of probation, according to MLive.

Joshua and Heather Brown. AP Photo provided by Detroit Police Department.

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Before You Go

Shootings In America
(01 of13)
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Swat team members secure the scene near Sparks Middle School in Sparks, Nev., after a shooting there on Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. Authorities are reporting that two people were killed and two wounded at the Nevada middle school. (AP Photo/Kevin Clifford) (credit:AP)
Sandy Hook Elementary(02 of13)
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Molly Delaney, left, holds her 11-year-old daughter, Milly Delaney, during a service in honor of the victims who died a day earlier when a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., as people gathered at St. John's Episcopal Church , Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, in the Sandy Hook village of Newtown, Conn. The massacre of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, would have been driven to such a crime and how he chose his victims. (credit:AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
(03 of13)
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Police secure the scene near Sparks Middle School after a shooting in Sparks, Nev., on Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. Authorities are reporting that two people were killed and two wounded at the Nevada middle school. (AP Photo/Kevin Clifford) (credit:AP)
Clackamas Town Center(04 of13)
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A security guard looks over the food court at the Clackamas Town Center mall as it opens, on Friday, Dec 14, 2012 in Portland, Ore. The mall is reopening, three days after a gunman killed two people and wounded a third amid a holiday shopping crowd estimated at 10,000. The shooter, Jacob Tyler Roberts, killed himself after the attack Tuesday afternoon. (credit:AP Photo/The Oregonian, Thomas Boyd)
St. Vincent's Hospital Shooting(05 of13)
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Birmingham police arrive at the scene of a shooting at St. Vincent's Hospital on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012 in Birmingham, Ala. Authorities in Alabama say a man opened fire the hospital, wounding an officer and two employees before he was fatally shot by police. Birmingham Police Sgt. Johnny Williams says the officer and employees suffered injuries that are not considered life-threatening. (credit:AP Photo/al.com, Joe Songer)
Sikh Temple Shooting(06 of13)
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July 2012: Aurora, Colorado(07 of13)
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A policeman stands outside a Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colo., where a heavily armed man opened fire, killing at least 12 people and injuring 50 others. (credit:AP)
May 2012: Seattle, Wash.(08 of13)
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Friends, family and employees react after a shooting at Cafe Racer in Seattle on May 30, 2012. A lone gunman killed four people Wednesday -- three were shot to death at a cafe, and a fourth in a carjacking. The gunman later killed himself. (credit:AP Photo/seattlepi.com, Joshua Trujillo)
April 2012: Oakland, California(09 of13)
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Alameda County Community Food Bank workers move a memorial from a parking spot next to Oikos University in Oakland, Calif., Monday, April 23, 2012. Some students and staff members have arrived to resume class at Oikus University, the small California Christian college where seven people were shot to death earlier in April. (credit:AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
November 2009: Fort Hood, Texas(10 of13)
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Panou Xiong, center, is comforted by family and friends following a Remembrance Ceremony commemorating the one-year anniversary of the worst mass shooting on a U.S. military base, where 13 people were killed and dozens wounded,, Nov. 5, 2010 in Fort Hood, Texas. Xiong's son, Pfc. Kham Xiong, was killed in the shooting. CORRECTION: This slide originally said that the Fort Hood shooting took place in November 2010. The shooting took place in November 2009. (credit:AP Photo/Eric Gay)
March 2009: Kinston, Alabama(11 of13)
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The charred Kinston, Ala. living room where suspected gunman Michael McLendon allegedly killed his mother Lisa McLendon, is photographed Wednesday, March 11, 2009. Authorities were working Wednesday to learn why a gunman set off on a rampage, killing 10 people across two rural Alabama counties. (credit:AP Photo/Dave Martin)
August 2007: Blacksburg, Va.(12 of13)
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An unidentified family member of slain Virginia Tech student Daniel Alejandro Prez Cueva, pauses at his memorial stone after the dedication of the memorial for the victims of the Virginia Tech shooting in Blacksburg, Va., Sunday, Aug. 19, 2007. More than 10,000 people gathered on the main campus lawn as Virginia Tech dedicated 32 memorial stones for those killed by a student in a mass shooting on campus last April. (credit:AP Photo/Steve Helber)
April 1999: Littleton, Colo.(13 of13)
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This aerial shows the news media compound near Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., April 21, 1999. Media from around the world poured into the area after 15 people were killed during a shooting spree inside the school. (credit:AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)