Mary Lashawn Cornelius, 19, was sentenced to seven years in prison for first-degree involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of 16-year-old Mattison Johnson earlier this year. The sentence followed a plea agreement with prosecutors, who dropped the armed criminal action charge in exchange for Cornelius’ guilty plea.
The fatal incident occurred on January 3 in a home located on East Grand Boulevard. Police arrived to find Johnson bleeding from a head wound, lying on the living room floor, with Cornelius in the same room. Cornelius admitted to playing Russian roulette with Johnson, stating that she “accidentally” shot Johnson in the head. “We were playing Russian roulette,” Cornelius explained in court.
Johnson’s mother, Nicole Pettis, was devastated by the tragic loss. She revealed that she believed Cornelius and her daughter were in a relationship. “The judge asked Mary point-blank, who put the bullet in the gun, and she said, ‘I don’t know,’” Pettis recalled. She also revealed that neither she nor her daughters were aware of the deadly game being played in their home, according to the local NBC affiliate KSDK.
Pettis shared the anguish her younger daughters experienced after the shooting. “I’m not even sure that my daughters know what Russian roulette is, but I think it was just a trigger for them because they did talk about her essentially spinning the gun around her finger, and I guess that’s apparently when the trigger was pulled and the gun killed my daughter essentially,” Pettis explained.
Pettis also recounted the horrific moment when her 9-year-old daughter frantically called her after hearing about the shooting. “It was my nine-year-old daughter. She said, ‘Mommy, you’ve got to get home.’ I couldn’t even really understand her, but she was hysterical. She said, ‘Mommy, Matti was shot,’” Pettis said.
While prosecutors characterized the shooting as an act of negligence, Pettis had previously expressed doubts about its accidental nature, claiming the relationship between Cornelius and her daughter was abusive. “I will get justice for my daughter,” Pettis vowed. “I hope that she haunts you, God forgive me, but I hope that my daughter eats her alive every night when she goes to bed.”
At the sentencing, Cornelius apologized for her actions. Her sister also expressed regret, calling the incident a “terrible mistake.” However, a family friend of Johnson’s stated that no apology would bring the teenager back, adding, “Nothing is a game when it comes to guns.”
Pettis, still grieving, wore a shirt emblazoned with the words, “Never an accident… guns aren’t toys,” a design she created herself. Despite the heartbreak, Pettis holds onto the happy memories of her daughter, stating, “That’s all I ever remember— all the happy moments.”