MAHONING COUNTY Stabbing victim speaks to judge

The man who pleaded guilty in the stabbings received the maximum sentence from the judge.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mary Spann said it's a miracle that she survived being stabbed, but she harbors no ill will toward the man who did it.
"I wish no harm to come to him. Just do what you've got to do under the law," Spann said to Judge Robert Lisotto of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
She was talking about Edwin Sheldon Scott, who was in court for sentencing on two counts of attempted murder. He pleaded guilty to the charges in April.
Judge Lisotto imposed the maximum sentence of 10 years for each count.
About the case
Scott, 42, of Elm Street, broke into Spann's house on Ohio Avenue in May 1999, found her in her bedroom, and stabbed her in the chest. Spann was a former girlfriend of Scott's, authorities said.
Scott then went to the living room where Spann's friend, Robert Duke, was asleep on a couch, and stabbed Duke some 20 times. Duke survived the injuries.
When Spann tried to stop Scott from stabbing Duke, he stabbed her in the chest a second time, said Assistant Prosecutor Robert Andrews.
"It's by God's will I'm still here," Spann said.
Duke was notified of the sentencing but did not attend the hearing, Andrews said.
Spann was 28 at the time, and Duke was 33. Authorities still are not sure what caused Scott to attack them. Scott did not offer an explanation before the sentence was imposed, telling Judge Lisotto he had nothing to say.
bjackson@vindy.com