CLEVELAND — It was just before 4 a.m. Wednesday morning, a call came in to the police about a woman shot at the Cleveland Metroparks' Mill Creek Falls off of Turney Road in Cleveland.
When they arrived, they found the victim, 25-year-old Kiara Jackson, dead.
On Wednesday, Metroparks Police arrested 23-year-old Lavia M. Paul, who has been charged with murder in connection with the fatal shooting, police said. She is being held under investigation.
Metroparks Police Chief Kelly Stillman said Jackson was part of a group that gathered at the park not long before the shooting.
“They came down after an all-day long event somewhere else and then went down here," Stillman said. "The park was closed actually, at 11 p.m. so, they got down here probably around 3 a.m. and then this happened shortly after.”
Because of the size of the group, he said they were able to talk with a number of witnesses and from that get a lead on the shooter.
As police began that investigation in those early morning hours, Deshawnte Jackson woke to a text.
"I just seen somebody say 'I'm sorry,' so I'm like what are they talking about," she said.
That's when she says she received a call from her mother, letting her know that her sister, Kiara, a mother of two small children, was gone.
"I don't want to think even want to think about it, it's hard especially a sibling like I never, I can't, I just never picture this," Jackson said.
She said Kiara was a fun person who got along with everyone, especially in their family, where Jackson says she was one of more than a dozen siblings.
"She was one of the ones that I felt like was more grounded and kind of like never like pick and chose sides. Like she was just a good friend to all of them," Jackson said.
And it is in that family network that Deshawnte and her siblings now seek comfort, as they search for the answers that they know will never make sense.
“We gonna deal with it. We got a big family, we’ll get through it, she’s a good girl. I love her to death. I’m sorry it happened like, senseless.”
In the meantime, Cleveland Metroparks Police want the public to know.
“The Metroparks are very safe. We have a very highly trained professional police force and are aggressively investigating this as we do all crimes. We don’t tolerate this type of behavior and we do everything possible to make sure that it doesn’t happen again,” the chief said.
Our overnight news tracker followed Cleveland Police as they swarmed the entrance to Cleveland Metroparks Mill Creek Falls.
Female shot dead in the Mill Creek Falls Cleveland Metropark around 3:45am. Cleveland Metroparks Police and CPD working the scene. EMS tells us she was in her 30's. Working to learn more. @MikeHoldenNews on scene gathering and will have live reports on @wews. pic.twitter.com/fFks4Pmdz1
— Mike Vielhaber (@MVielhaber) June 11, 2025
