Twenty-one-year-old Carlo General pleaded guilty Monday to a charge of voluntary manslaughter while armed in connection with the killing of 11-year-old Davon McNeal. McNeal was fatally shot at a community cookout on July 4, 2020. His family said he was running out of the car to borrow a phone charger from his aunt when he was caught in a crossfire of bullets.

General’s plea, which is contingent on the approval of a judge, calls for a prison sentence between 13 and 16 years. The three other defendants in the case pleaded guilty earlier this month. They face expected prison sentences ranging from 7 to 10 years, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. All four have sentencing hearings scheduled for June.

The plea deals were unwelcome news to members of McNeal’s family, who wanted to see the people charged with his killing given more prison time.

“It’s unacceptable,” said John Ayala, McNeal’s grandfather. “I don’t understand why they’re not getting anything from 15 to 20 years.”

Ayala told DCist/WAMU that the time since McNeal’s death has been extremely difficult for the family. Reminders of the 11-year-old are everywhere they go: in photos around the house, and in the places they visit where they used to spend time with him.

“Every day is a struggle since the shooting,” says Ayala. “My wife, his grandmother, all I hear is, ‘Why did they have to take my grandson?’ It’s not going away easily … the family is really hurting right now.”

Members of Davon’s family were also upset by the lack of communication they say they’ve received from the USAO for D.C., the prosecutors in the case. Earlier this month, when Daryle Bond, 20, Marcel Gordon, 26, and Christan Wingfield, 24 all pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter while armed in connection with Davon’s killing, Ayala says the family found out from watching news reports.

Ayala says the family was aware that a plea deal was possible, but had communicated to prosecutors in the morning that they were against one.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office said the office does not comment on specific cases, and referred DCist/WAMU to the statement it issued when the first three plea deals in the McNeal killing were announced.

“The senseless shooting of 11-year-old Davon McNeal, on what should have been a joyful holiday night, shocked our community, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office extends its condolences to the child’s family and the many others affected by this unimaginable loss,” said the statement. “These plea agreements followed a thorough investigation and analysis of the events of that tragic night. The U.S. Attorney’s Office typically analyzes many factors in plea discussions, including the facts of the case, the evidence, the investigation, relevant case law, and concerns of the victim’s family.”

Ayala says he wants McNeal to be remembered as a stellar student, an excellent football player, and a child who was trying to become a role model for others.

“He would go out with his mom, because she was a violence interrupter,” says Ayala. “He chose to go out, be with her as she was doing something positive in the community.”

That’s what McNeal was doing the day he was killed. He had just left an anti-violence cookout with his mother when he was hit by the stray bullets.