An Ohio man has been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the tragic shooting of an innocent woman, mistaken for someone else entirely. The incident unfolded when the man, armed with an AR-15, targeted the woman as she was placing birthday balloons into her car. Prosecutors revealed that the shooter believed the woman was connected to the unresolved murder of his girlfriend.

Tasha Love, the fiancée of the victim, Ernestine Stallings, shared her harrowing experience of the shooting with local ABC affiliate WEWS. “I could feel the heat from the bullets coming past my leg,” Love recounted. She was beside Stallings, assisting her with loading the balloons into their vehicle at the time of the attack.

Love described the scene, explaining that the shooter only saw Stallings from behind. “All he saw was the back of her head — she had braids, a baseball cap, and glasses,” Love noted. “It could have been anybody,” she added, emphasizing the randomness and senselessness of the act.

The shooter, 26-year-old Jontae Watkins, entered a plea of no contest to the charge of aggravated murder in October. The shooting took place on July 3, 2023, outside a Dollar Tree in Akron. According to court reports, Watkins waited for Stallings to exit the store before he opened fire.

Watkins allegedly confessed to the slaying and admitted it was a case of mistaken identity. He and his girlfriend, Atavia Robinson, were both shot outside a movie theater in June 2022 and he thought Stallings was a person involved in the killing, which remains unsolved.

“He’s still not taking any accountability,” Love said after Watkins entered his no-contest plea in October. “He did it in cold blood. He’s a cold-blooded killer.”

Watkins was accused of shooting Stallings six times in the back and torso. A 911 audio recording obtained by WEWS features a description of what shoppers allegedly saw that day outside the Dollar Tree, with a caller saying, “He literally came up behind her and shot her like for no reason.”

Online court records show that Watkins was sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole coming after he serves 33 years.

“This reckless act of misplaced vengeance took the life of an innocent woman,” said Summit County Prosecutor Elliot Kolkovich in a statement. “Violence in response to pain only creates more loss for our community. Our thoughts are with Ernestine Stallings’ loved ones as they grieve this senseless tragedy.”