Jayren Joseph Lamiere Graham was 19 when he died on September 13, 2018. He lived in Miami Township and worked as a dishwasher at the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton in Miamisburg, Ohio. Family remember him as creative — he made a popular Star Wars video game on YouTube at age 10 — and as an Army Reservist.

According to testimony, Jayren was in a hotel parking lot that night for what witnesses described as a drug deal. An 18-year-old former West Carrollton High School student, Larry Malcolm Sain, and two friends had gone there to buy marijuana. After the transaction a struggle over a handgun in Sain’s vehicle ended when the gun discharged, fatally wounding Jayren. The gun was never recovered.

Sain was convicted of murder and tampering with evidence and received an 18 years to life sentence. He sought to withdraw his guilty plea at one point but ultimately maintained it, saying the shooting occurred during a struggle in which he acted in self-defense. Jayren’s mother Melissa, step-father Darrell King, father Vernon Graham, and siblings Kayla, Madison, Jaden, Quadarius, and Shakyla attended court and addressed the judge at sentencing.

If anyone knew Jayren or was in the area of the hotel parking lot that night, any details could help clarify what happened.