Sixteen-year-old Sydney Garcia-Tovar, a Hispanic ROTC cadet at Hamilton High School who wanted to be a Marine, was shot on July 23, 2018, in Fairfield Township, Ohio. She and three others had driven to the Tyler’s Creek Townhomes for what was described as a drug deal; back seat passengers believed they were going to rob the buyers. As Sydney was leaving in a car, bullets struck the vehicle and hit her in the back of the head. She was taken to a local hospital and died the following day.

The investigation produced multiple charges. Markeylnd Townsend, 22 at the time of the shooting, was indicted in April 2021 on counts connected to the case; he was already serving a three-year sentence for an unrelated robbery and was believed to be involved, though reports do not confirm whether he was the shooter. Jordan Spain, who was 14 at the time of the incident, was arrested in 2022 and later indicted; he eventually pleaded guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter and received a 10-year sentence plus 3 years for a firearms charge. Detectives say the shooting occurred after words were exchanged during the exchange and that both Spain and Townsend opened fire.

Sydney’s family says she was in the wrong place at the wrong time and continues to seek answers and justice. If anyone has information about the shooting or others who may have been involved, please come forward.