LOIBL MURDER CASE Suspect enters guilty plea in slaying at bar

The Youngstown man will testify against a co-defendant at trial.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Jose Rivera knew something bad was going to happen when he was riding to the T-N-T Bar with his friend, LaTawon Townsend, on a cold January night.
"LaTawon was driving crazy as hell," Rivera told authorities.
But he insists he didn't know someone was going to get killed.
Rivera, 23, of Grandview Avenue, pleaded guilty Friday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to one count of involuntary manslaughter and a firearm specification.
The charge was reduced from aggravated murder, for which Rivera was indicted by a county grand jury in January.
In exchange for the reduction, Rivera agreed to testify for prosecutors when Townsend, who is also charged with aggravated murder, goes on trial Oct. 30 before Judge James C. Evans.
'Guarantees'
Assistant Prosecutor Jay Macejko said authorities have other witnesses who've pegged Townsend as the triggerman in the killing of 24-year-old Angela Loibl of Austintown on Jan 12. Rivera's testimony further tightens the state's case, he said.
"In this business, we look for guarantees," Macejko said. "This plea guarantees a conviction of Mr. Rivera, it guarantees him a certain number of years in prison, and it all but guarantees a conviction of LaTawon Townsend."
Macejko said he'll recommend that Rivera be sentenced to the maximum of 13 years in prison. Defense attorney Anthony Meranto said he will argue for a shorter term. Sentencing will be after Townsend's trial.
Rivera spent about 45 minutes behind closed doors Friday with the lawyers, answering questions about what happened the night Loibl was shot in the face.
Version of events
Macejko said Townsend and Rivera were thrown out of the bar on Steel Street on the city's West Side after Townsend got into a fight on the dance floor.
When they left, Townsend was angry and told Rivera they would return and "light this place up."
Rivera told authorities that they drove to Townsend's house, where Townsend went inside and got two guns. They changed cars, drove back to the West Side bar and pulled up just outside the door, Macejko said.
The last thing Rivera saw was Townsend walking into the bar with a gun in his pocket. As Rivera was trying to go inside, a rush of people came out, apparently frightened by Townsend waving his gun around, Macejko said.
When that rush subsided, Rivera again started to enter the bar but was again swept out by a second rush of people fleeing, apparently after hearing a gunshot. One of the patrons told Rivera that Townsend had left without him.
Macejko said Rivera ran to a friend's house nearby and called for a ride home.
Rivera did not go into the bar so he did not see the actual shooting, but Macejko said there are other eyewitnesses who saw Townsend shoot Loibl at point-blank range as she tried to hide behind a freezer in the bar's kitchen.
Loibl and two other women had fled into the kitchen thinking they could find a back door to get out. When they realized there was no door, they tried to hide behind the freezer, Macejko added.
bjackson@vindy.com