YOUNGSTOWN Man admits to assault on a friend

The victim, who was beaten into a coma, now lives in Kansas. He does not remember the assault.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- David Kopnitsky admitted in court Monday that he bludgeoned his companion in August but didn't say why he did it.
"We have no idea what the motive was behind this crime," said Jay Macejko, assistant Mahoning County prosecutor. "Something happened that sparked this assault."
"Quite candidly, we didn't go into it at all," said defense attorney Ronald Yarwood. "We didn't even discuss it."
Kopnitsky, 23, of North Garland Avenue, pleaded guilty to felonious assault, for which Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of common pleas court immediately sentenced him to four years in prison.
Plea agreement
That was the sentence recommended by the county prosecutor's office as part of a plea agreement, which also included dismissal of a charge of attempted murder.
Yarwood said Kopnitsky maintained his innocence until Monday, after a hearing to finalize matters before the case went to trial, which was scheduled for next week.
As the lawyers were leaving, Kopnitsky notified Yarwood that he wanted to plead guilty.
"It happened that fast," Yarwood said. "He had a change of heart, for whatever reason."
Police found Fernando Pacheco, who was 43 at the time, bleeding in the bed of a home he shared with Kopnitsky on North Garland Avenue. Macejko said Pacheco had been severely beaten in the head with a blunt object, possibly a metal jewelry box.
A hammer was also found nearby, but police aren't sure whether it was used to strike the victim.
Kopnitsky originally told police he had been out drinking with someone else and came home to find Pacheco injured and bleeding.
Critically injured
Pacheco was critically injured and was hospitalized in a coma for some time after the assault. He has since recovered and now lives in Kansas, though he has no memory of the attack, Macejko said.
He said Kopnitsky confessed the assault to a pair of confidential informants but never said why he did it.
Without the victim's testimony, it would have been difficult to prove intent to kill, which is why prosecutors agreed to drop the attempted murder charge, Macejko said.
Yarwood said the plea and sentence was a fair resolution to the case.
"The prosecutors did not have an iron-clad case, and I did not have a clear-cut acquittal defense," Yarwood said.
bjackson@vindy.com