Woman guilty of beating veteran to death in East Cleveland gets life in prison

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - A 40-year-old woman convicted of beating an elderly Navy veteran to death inside an East Cleveland AutoZone last year was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years Thursday morning.

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Deena Calabrese presided over Tiffany Gardner’s trial which began March 7. The jury started deliberating Thursday, March 10 and reached a verdict the same day.

East Cleveland police said Leonard Craddock, 70, was killed on April 14, 2021 at the AutoZone in the 15000 block of Euclid Avenue.

Craddock was pronounced dead at the scene.

East Cleveland police said Gardner and Craddock got into an argument inside the store.

East Cleveland AutoZone((Source: East Cleveland police))

“The last time I saw my father it was here, and we was playing cards and he was sitting on the porch,” recalled Rayshawn Craddock, the victim’s youngest son. “He was talking to my wife and he told my wife, he said, ‘my son did good.’ So we played a card game that day, and we had fun. I didn’t think that was gonna be the last time I seen my father, man.”