Life for a life
A Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judge has sentenced an Ohio man to life in prison for what he deemed “an execution” of a JACK Cleveland Casino patron.
Judge David Matia sentenced Tyrell Chandler on Tuesday for the March 7, 2025 killing of Clarence Houston at a Maple Heights traffic light.
jury rejected Chandler’s claim
The Cuyahoga County jury rejected Chandler’s claim that he shot and killed Houston in self-defense. Prior to the stop-light slaying, CCTV cameras at JACK Casino in downtown Cleveland captured “a physical altercation” between the pair on the property.
Judge Matia’s decision for Chandler, 29, to serve his current age behind bars means the convicted killer can’t seek a parole hearing until 2055.
Killer chased victim
Chandler’s sentencing comes after he was convicted last week on charges including murder, felonious assault, and firing a gun near a prohibited area.
The Cuyahoga jury rejected the killer’s claim that he “feared for his life” when he shot five rounds into the victim’s SUV, a decision made easy by the fact Chandler pursued Houston for approximately 20 miles before confronting him at the stop light.
You drove by, you fired into the car and you killed someone who was doing nothing”
“This was an execution,” Matia told Chandler at his trial. “You drove by, you fired into the car and you killed someone who was doing nothing but just waiting in traffic.”
Bedford Police Department Deputy Chief Rick Suts confirmed eyewitness reports of the slaying, stating: “We had a person walking on the sidewalk who saw everything and another person riding by on a bike.”
Not convinced
Judge Malia added that the altercation at JACK Casino didn’t warrant such an extreme reaction, stating “the casino fight looked like two kids shadowboxing.”
The judge said after reviewing the footage he didn’t see either man land a punch, and that Chandler based “the murder of another human being on that.”
According to reports, the victim’s family and his supporters packed the courthouse gallery. The deceased’s cousin Michelle Houston said the family was devastated by Clarence’s death. “We live with consistent sadness, anger and heartbreak, knowing that Clarence did not get the chance to grow old, watch his children grow or continue being a part of our lives.”
