JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The 20-year-old woman accused of "attempting to film TikTok videos" in a May 2023 shooting that killed a 19-year-old woman, entered a plea of guilty in Duval County court on Friday.
Mariah Clayton, 20, plead guilty to manslaughter for shooting Aniyah Womack with a rifle on May 24, 2023. Womack was shot once in the abdomen and died at Memorial Hospital on University Boulevard in Jacksonville, Clayton's arrest report states.
"The night I rushed her to Memorial Hospital, I told Aniyah that she will make it," Clayton said in a letter she read to the court. "I prayed all night while waiting in front of the hospital that the angels touch her and that she [would] make a full recovery."
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said Womack was shot because Clayton was handling the rifle in a negligent way. The arrest report says she was repeatedly warned by friends that she should not be "playing with [a] rifle," and Womack's family says several people were with her at the time the shooting happened at an apartment in the Regency area of Jacksonville.
"She’s [Womack] just always been a positive, bubbly person, always happy and always outgoing," Womack's mother told First Coast News in May 2023.
A witness told police Clayton acted out a scene where she "popped out of the shower" with the rifle. The report says Womack was the one filming the videos.
In the courtroom Friday, Clayton was sentenced to five years in prison followed by five years of probation. Additionally, the judge ordered that she pay $17,000 ($250 per month) for restitution related to Womack's funeral costs, undergo random urine screens, pay court fees and maintain full-time employment while on probation.
Clayton went on to say in the letter that the shooting was "truly an accident," and that she "regret[s] not thinking it through."
"I wake up every morning wishing I did everything different," Clayton also said in the letter.
When Clayton finished reading her letter, the judge responded saying, "This is your one and final second chance," addressing Clayton. The judge then spoke with a representative of Womack's family in reference to the sentencing and said, "My understanding from the family is that you don't necessarily agree with this, is that right?"
"This is not just five years, it's 10 years," the judge said. "If she violates in the five years, she subjects herself to maximum."
The judge then gave Clayton credit for time served of 154 days, as Clayton was escorted out.