‘He was somebody to us’: Family finds closure after Fort Wayne man receives 92-year sentence in fatal 2016 shooting

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA) - A family is finding closure after a Fort Wayne man received a 92-year sentence in a fatal 2016 shooting Tuesday.

On May 18, 2016, 17-year-old Dontay White was found in a parked car on Brickshire Parkway, near Maysville and Trier Roads, suffering from gunshot wounds. He was taken to a hospital where he later died.

Seven years later, the Fort Wayne Police Department arrested now 25-year-old Michael Harding II in connection to the fatal 2016 shooting during a traffic stop in 2023. He was charged with intimidation, robbery, aggravated battery, murder, and a sentencing enhancement for using a gun in the homicide of 17-year-old Dontay White.

In August, a jury found Harding guilty on all counts related to the fatal 2016 shooting , and on Tuesday, he was sentenced to 92 years in prison .

"We're very happy. It took eight and a half years to finally get to this point. – it was a long journey," Kandell White, Dontay's mother, said. "We didn't know if it was gonna happen or not – for a long time, it was being treated like Dontay was nobody, but he was somebody to us, and to a lot of other people, and his killer needed to be put away."

"After all that, it's a good feeling to know that he's being put away and that he's gonna spend the rest of his life in prison."

Shyanne Cox, Dontay's sister, said she wishes he was here today because they would likely still be close.

"He was always there for me," Cox said.

Both women say they are glad to be done with this chapter of their lives, adding that they are grateful to everyone who has supported them since Dontay's death, including detectives, prosecutors and members of the Justice, Accountability, and Victim Advocacy Group.