Man sentenced to 5 years for manslaughter in killing of 9-year-old Brandoniya Bennett

The alleged gunman who fired into the wrong apartment and fatally shot a 9-year-girl pleaded guilty Monday to a lesser charge of manslaughter after his murder case ended in a mistrial because of faulty witness testimony.

Tyrese Simmons, 24, was sentenced to five years in prison for the 2019 killing of Brandoniya Bennett at her Old East Dallas apartment. Brandoniya, a cheerful, bubbly elementary school student, was struck by gunfire walking from her kitchen after fetching a snack.

He faced up to life in prison if convicted of murder. Another man, Davonte Benton, was convicted of murder in 2022 and sentenced to 45 years in prison for his role in the shooting. Benton was seen on surveillance footage running through the apartment complex.

Simmons also pleaded guilty to jumping bail and failing to appear. He was sentenced to two years in prison for tampering with his ankle monitor and going on the lam days before he was initially scheduled to stand trial last year. He was later arrested in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after a standoff with police.

The two sentences will run concurrently, and Simmons will get credit toward his sentence for the time he was jailed.

Lawyers reached the plea deal late last week after the murder trial ended without a verdict Wednesday. Witnesses changed their testimony, forcing state District Judge Hector Garza to grant defense attorneys’ request for a mistrial.

“There are situations where people change their testimony either before trial, maybe during trial and between trials,” Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot told reporters outside the courtroom. “When that happens, it severely compromises our ability to prosecute a case.”

“Sometimes we are not where we started on cases, we wind up at a different place,” he said. “It seems like a compromise — it is — but sometimes … testimony can have a significant bearing on how we will dispose of a case.”

Defense attorney Josh Healy said the prosecution’s witnesses “fell apart on the stand.” According to Healy, one eyewitness testified that Simmons was holding a gun, but previously testified Benton was seen with the weapon. Another witness contradicted a statement she told police, Healy said.

“They messed up,” Healy said. “I hate to say it sucks in the sense that they messed up and the little girl is still deceased, but we have to protect the rights of our client.”

Creuzot implied there was an allegation that prosecutors failed to disclose information favorable to the defense, known as a Brady violation. Creuzot did not elaborate on the specifics of the allegation and did not answer questions from reporters. Healy declined to comment on the alleged Brady violation.

Brandoniya’s aunt, Ashton Elder, testified last week that she and Brandoniya had plans to go back-to-school shopping on Aug. 14, 2019. Brandoniya was days away from starting the fourth grade.

Elder told the jury — nine women and four men, including an alternate — that she heard a group of people arguing outside their apartment building in the 3500 block of Munger Avenue and told Brandoniya and other children to go into the home’s living room.

According to police, Simmons was feuding with another rapper when he allegedly fired into the apartment, mistaking it for his rival’s. Brandoniya got a snack from the kitchen and was struck by gunfire, Elder said. Five bullets pierced into the home.

Brandoniya’s slaying renewed calls for an end to gun violence amid a summer crime wave.

Mayor Eric Johnson attended her funeral and vowed to make Dallas as safe as “humanly possible,” while community leaders called for a week of peace.

Simmons surrendered to police the day after the shooting and was released on bond in December 2019. Ahead of his trial in June 2023, he tampered with his electronic ankle monitor and fled, The Dallas Morning News reported.

“The choice I have made was not a sign of guilt,” a Facebook account appearing to belong to Simmons posted about the time he went on the run.

“I will not willingly allow them to assassinate my character any longer by painting a picture that I’m a rapper who shot into the wrong home or that rap lyrics make me a shooter … without the right counsel who is willing to fight my case,” the post read.

After his arrest in Oklahoma, Simmons remained jailed ahead of the trial.