One of two men charged with a high-profile, violent carjacking caught on video in the Beverly neighborhood has been sentenced to 14½ years in federal prison, officials announced Friday. U.S. District Judge Sunil R. Harjani sentenced Damarri Conner, 23, after Conner pleaded guilty to federal carjacking and firearm charges.
On the evening of November 2, 2023, Conner and his accomplice, Kenneth Merritt, dressed in all black with hoods and face masks, rode a bus to Beverly. There, they hid near a home in the 9300 block of South Pleasant and watched as a 46-year-old woman and her 12-year-old daughter returned from the girl’s volleyball practice and parked in the family’s detached garage, officials said. When the mother stepped out and started toward the back door, the two men sprang from hiding.
Surveillance video showed Merritt throwing the woman to the ground and ripping her purse away, prosecutors said. As she screamed, Conner ran up and punched her in the face while pointing a loaded gun at her from point-blank range as she tried to shield her face…