Harsh words, forgiveness spoken at sentencing in 2021 Oberlin killing

ELYRIA — Canaan Sullivan received an indefinite sentence of 18 to 23½ years in prison Thursday from Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Miraldi for his role in a 2021 killing in Oberlin. The sentencing hearing was interrupted at one point by an outburst from someone among Sullivan's supporters, and words were exchanged between them and members of the family of victim Tray Porter. Once heated emotions cooled, Porter's parents expressed forgiveness and encouraged understanding and peaceful resolution of conflict rather than violence. Porter, 21, was shot by a still-unidentified gunman on Jan. 31, 2021, at a residence on South Park Street in Oberlin and died the following day. Following an Oberlin Police Department investigation, Sullivan was charged with murder even though he wasn't the one who pulled the trigger, but the murder charges were dismissed or amended as part of his plea agreement. Sullivan pleaded guilty June 14 to involuntary manslaughter, two felonious assault charges, a felony tampering with evidence charge and multiple firearms specifications. Prosecutors came to that resolution after consulting with Porter's family on a plea agreement with Sullivan and his attorney, Anthony Baker. The sentence means that Sullivan, 25, of Lorain, must serve at least 18 years in prison before he is eligible for release. Free on bond until Thursday's sentencing, Sullivan was handcuffed and led away by sheriff's deputies when the hearing concluded. He received credit for 152 days already served behind bars. "I'm hoping that you will do well and do something positive with your life," Miraldi told Sullivan after imposing sentence. If Sullivan has a bad disciplinary record behind bars, he could be required to serve up to 23½ years before he is released. Miraldi also ordered Sullivan to pay $6,674 restitution to Porter's family to cover his funeral expenses. Sullivan's guilty plea on June 14 resolved a total of four felony cases against him. He also pleaded guilty to 14 other felonies and a handful of misdemeanor charges in three other cases: A drug trafficking and weapons possession case from 2021, and two felony counterfeiting cases filed in 2023. All sentences on those charges were ordered to run concurrent to the sentence in the case. Miraldi ordered a gun and $12,175 in cash seized by Lorain police from Sullivan's home in October 2021 be forfeited to the state. Police also seized more than 180 grams of fentanyl and smaller amounts of methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana during that raid. Sullivan, who was a convicted felon on probation at the time of Porter's killing, is not eligible for early release and gave up some of his rights to appeal his sentence as part of his plea, Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Matt Kern said in court. Prosecutors did not offer a motive for Porter's shooting. Sullivan, his attorney speak In his client's defense, Baker said while Sullivan faced "extremely serious" charges, "he's a human being." Sullivan attended Open Door Christian School then graduated from Lorain High School where he played football. He's a new father with a 1-year-old daughter, his attorney said. Sullivan "has taken full responsibility" for the drug charges and his actions around Porter's slaying, Baker said. "If things could be done differently, naturally, yes, he would have re-thought his involvement," Baker said. "The drug case is one thing, but the murder case, you don't come back from. You have a different type of victim in that murder case, you have immediate family members who lost someone in that murder case." While Sullivan didn't pull the trigger, "he did take responsibility for his role and what others and what he was a part of, and I think that's important," Baker said. Sullivan wasn't asking for forgiveness and hopes for a second chance, Baker said. "This is not the end of his life," Baker said. Given his chance to speak, Sullivan didn't say much and mumbled a few words. "Just God bless you, God bless you" he appeared to say, though not all of his words were clear. Victim impact statements Assistant Prosecutor Daniellela Leigh read aloud a letter from the mother of Porter's young daughter, who was only 3 months old when her father was killed. It was full of harsh words for Sullivan. The woman wrote that she "didn't care" if Sullivan was sorry or not for Porter's death, and that she wasn't writing to make him feel remorse or to gain sympathy. "I want you to know I'm not seeking forgiveness," she told Sullivan through the letter. "I will never forgive you." "Prison doesn't bring justice to this situation for me" and won't bring Porter back into his daughter's life, she wrote. "Going to prison means you will still get to visit your family and get to call home. Going to prison means you eventually get to come home. That doesn't sit well with me," she wrote. "The burden that you put on my daughter's heart forever is personal for me. I used to want you to die but that all seems so easy. And your lack of remorse from everything I've seen and heard has made me hate you even more." "So what I wish for you is that every time you think you're having a good day, something horrible happens. I hope everybody in your life that you trust, wrongs you. I hope that you never reach any of your goals in life. I hope when you come home there are family members that don't want to see you. I hope when you come home and apply for a job, housing or anything you get denied," she wrote. "In my eyes, you took everything for my daughter and you deserve nothing," she wrote. "I hope that you live for a very long time and every day you are miserable because the only thing you deserve is to walk through your karma." "Mostly I hope God never forgives you and your karma follows into the afterlife," she wrote. "I hope you don't think what you've done is prideful or that it was cool. I hope after a long day of faking how tough you are, when you lay down at night you know it was jealous and cowardly." "And although my hopes for you may seem cruel they are honest. And as much as I hate you with my whole heart I hope your deserved karma doesn't affect your child as much as my daughter will hurt because of your actions," she wrote. As Leigh finished reading the letter and introduced Tray Porter's father Charles Porter for his victim impact statement, a woman in a pink shirt among Sullivan's supporters interrupted the hearing. "Stupid a-- bull----," the woman yelled. "Stupid as f---. Find the n---- that killed him. Find him." The courtroom began to buzz with activity, with Porter and Sullivan's supporters yelling back and forth. Order was only restored when one of three Lorain County sheriff's deputies present for the hearing escorted the woman in the pink shirt out of the courtroom at Miraldi's instruction. "You gonna be rich as f--- when you get back, we love you," the woman shouted at Sullivan, though some of her words were hard to hear. "Find the n---- that killed him, find him, find him, find him!" Once things calmed down, Charles Porter said he forgave Sullivan for what he did. "I forgive him. And I'll be praying for him. And it hurts," Charles Porter said. Tray Porter's mother Tracy Porter told Miraldi that Tray was her youngest son. "The burden of this moment is heavy," she said. "I stand before you not seeking vengeance but seeking understanding. My faith sustains me but it cannot mend the gaping hole left by the loss of my son." Tray was "stolen" from his family and "a life brimming with potential, a future tragically cut short," Tracy Porter said. Sullivan "brought weapons into a situation that demanded peace. While I may believe you didn't intend the outcome, the weight of your actions is undeniable," she told him. "Tray's absence carves a permanent scar on our family. His laughter, his dreams, his future all silenced. His daughter, a precious piece of him, is left to navigate life without her father's embrace," Tracy Porter said. "And though I hold no hatred in my heart — the pain is a constant companion — you, Canaan, face a future confined within walls." "May this tragedy serve as a stark lesson: We must choose understanding over animosity, peace over violence. May Tray's memory be a beacon guiding us towards a future where such senseless loss becomes a distant memory," she said. Killer still at large A witness told Oberlin police that there were two people who showed up to "smoke" with Tray Porter the day he was shot. Witnesses said there was a confrontation, and someone shouted for Tray Porter to "get down on the ground." After the shooting, a witness told police a man ran from the residence east into a wooded area. First responders found Tray Porter shot once in the upper thigh. He later died at a hospital in Cleveland. In court, Kern said investigators "pursued information" about the shooter's identity but they weren't able to identify the person even with Sullivan's help. "We are still working to identify the principal offender," Kern said in court. "We appreciate Mr. Sullivan's attempt to provide information along those lines but unfortunately we have as of yet been unable to do that. If someone has information to identify that person we welcome them to come forward." Anyone with information about the shooter's identity is asked to call the Oberlin Police Department at (440) 774-1061 or the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office at (440) 329-5389. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.