Two men arrested in fatal 1-year-old shooting

Two men face murder charges in connection with last week's fatal shooting of 1-year-old Ne'Riah Miller in Louisville's Shawnee neighborhood.

Trey Anderson, 20, and Michael Dunn, 24, both "had significant involvement in the murder," Louisville Metro Police Department Homicide Lt. Todd Kessinger said at a news conference Tuesday morning.

Kessinger did not say how the two men were involved and said additional arrests could be made in connection to the shooting.

Both were arrested over the weekend and have been charged with murder, attempted murder, and wanton endangerment. Anderson and Dunn remain in jail each on a $500,000 cash bond, according to court records.

The toddler and her mother, 21-year-old Cierra Twyman, were shot Aug.27 around 6 p.m. as they sat on their front porch in the 100 block of South 37th Street.

The child died soon after at Kosair Children's Hospital from a single gunshot wound to the torso, while her mother suffered non life-threatening injuries and was released from the hospital Monday.

Police gave few other specifics in the ongoing case. Kessinger acknowledged the public outrage evoked by the case, and cited a desire to provide the public with information while not damaging the investigation.

Twyman's aunt, LaVonda Weber, said her niece was home Tuesday, slowly recovering and making plans for her daughter's funeral.

"We are still very much healing," Weber said. "We're trying to have a forgiving heart."

She said her family believes the prayers of many helped police find the two men.

"The solution for this is to stop, not to continue the anger in the community," she said. "We don't want to keep that cycle going by having a heart that's retaliative. We want justice. There's a difference."

Community members gathered at the site of the shooting last week to support the victims' family.

"We're supposed to be brothers and sisters. We're supposed to love one another," Ne'Riah's great-grandmother, Sherrie Miller, said at the time. "Why do we have to kill?"

Miller said she believes her great-granddaughter and her mother were not the intended targets and that at least six men were involved in the shooting. Relaying information witnesses have told her, Miller said, one man ran up to the porch where the victims were sitting and fired.

Ne'Riah's shooting brought the total number of homicides this year to 35, according to LMPD records. In August alone, LMPD responded to 74 calls in the area of the shooting.

Kessinger said a variety of sources have lent help to the case, including some "that normally wouldn't help us."

An open visitation for Ne'Riah will be held from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Friday at King Solomon Baptist Church, 1620 Anderson St., with funeral services to follow.

Reporter Matthew Glowicki can be reached at (502) 582-4989. Follow him on Twitter at @MattGlo.