CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The former mafia member prosecuted for illegal dumping at his Cleveland car lot has offered to pay the funeral expenses for 9-year-old Saniyah Nicholson who was shot and killed in the crossfire of a gang shootout.

Carmine "The Bull" Agnello, an ex-member of the Gambino crime family in New York, and his wife, Danielle Agnello, met with the girl's mother on Friday morning to formally make their offer.

Ian Friedman, Agnello's attorney, said Saniyah's mother, Marshawnette Daniels, accepted the couple's offer.

"He just wants to be an example for people to step up and do the right thing," Friedman said.

Agnello has previously paid for the funerals of children who have fallen victim to gun violence, Friedman said.

Saniyah was shot about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, as she and her adult sister sat in Daniels' parked car while Daniels ran into the DNA Level Boxing Club on Lee Road near Cloverside Avenue to pick up her son.

A car sped by while Daniels was inside and opened fire on a group of people standing on the sidewalk near the gym. The two groups exchanged at least 15 shots, according to witnesses.

A bullet ripped through the windshield of Daniels' car and hit Saniyah in the forehead, killing her instantly.

Police arrested two teens and an adult late Thursday and early Friday, and filed murder charges against them.

Agnello, a former member of the Gambino family crime syndicate, was arrested nearly two years ago during an early-morning raid at his Cleveland auto body shop. He was slapped with more than a dozen charges, including racketeering and conspiracy, that accused him of running an illegal $4.2 million car-scrapping scheme out of the shop.

He pleaded guilty last June to polluting the environment, being a felon in possession of a weapon and defrauding a towing company, and was sentenced to a year's probation. He was also ordered to repay the prosecutor's office $180,000 for the cost of the investigation, which they dubbed "Operation Goodfella."

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