Charged with murder

Charged with murder
YOUNGSTOWN -- A murder charge has been filed against Durrell Jones, 16, of West Princeton Avenue. He is accused of fatally shooting Jason L. Jackson, 22, of Falls Avenue on Tuesday. A hearing in Mahoning County Juvenile Court will determine if probable cause exists to bind the case over to common pleas court, said Prosecutor Paul J. Gains. Gains said Jones' age and the type of crime makes it mandatory that he be tried as an adult. Jones remains at the county juvenile justice center.
Shooting reported
CAMPBELL -- Police are investigating the report of a shooting at 11:45 p.m. Wednesday in the 100 block of Jefferson Street. A 20-year-old Youngstown woman told police she heard three shots as she left her car and was struck by one in her right hip; she was treated at St. Elizabeth Health Center. Police said they found no casings, bullet holes or blood at the location where she said it occurred.
Boy robbed at gunpoint
CAMPBELL -- A 16-year-old boy was robbed at gunpoint just before 11 p.m. Wednesday in front of his home in the 300 block of Whipple Avenue. Police reports state the boy was walking home from a nearby pizza shop when two men in a green Mercury Topaz approached. One of them pointed a silver handgun at him and told him to empty his pockets. The boy's grandmother looked outside to check on him, saw the gunman and rushed outside. The men fled when they saw her.
Austintown bomb hoax
AUSTINTOWN -- A bomb threat to Austintown Middle School turned out to be a hoax. Principal Dan Bokesch said today no bomb was found and no problems were experienced over the past two days when the school was evacuated twice because of a written bomb threat. Bokesch said school officials are still investigating. He hopes the responsible parties are found so a message can be sent to other pupils that such activity will not be tolerated.
Plea in child-beating
YOUNGSTOWN -- Gloria J. Jenkins of Willis Avenue has pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of domestic violence in the Oct. 3 tree-switch beating of her 10-year-old nephew. On Tuesday, Municipal Judge Robert P. Milich found the 47-year-old woman guilty, sentenced her to 30 days in jail and suspended it all. The charge filed was a higher level domestic violence, which carried a maximum sentence of six months in jail and $1,000 fine. Judge Milich fined Jenkins $50, which she paid, plus $60 court cost. Police had counted 21 welts on the boy, who ran from his aunt's home and was pulled off the street by a concerned citizen. When arraigned, Jenkins said her nephew had used profanity with an elderly woman up the street and didn't want to come home to do his homework.
Underage sales charges
YOUNGSTOWN -- The vice squad sent a 16-year-old into Jump In Jacks on South Avenue Wednesday afternoon, then collected what the teenager bought -- a six-pack of Mike's Hard Lemonade and a pack of cigarettes, according to reports. The clerk, Bruce G. Montgomery, 19, of Lake Milton, was issued a summons that charges him with illegal sales of alcohol and tobacco to an underage person. The 16-year-old then entered South Avenue Gas Mart and bought a pack of cigarettes, according to the squad. The clerk, Nishan Singh, 51, of Boardman, was issued a summons that charges him with illegal sales of tobacco to an underage person. The vice squad acted in response to complaints about underage sales, reports show.
Dairy Queen robbed
YOUNGSTOWN -- A customer at Dairy Queen at 3003 Mahoning Ave. asked if the clerk could change $50, then snatched an unspecified amount of cash from the register when the clerk opened it to check, around 8:45 p.m. Wednesday, police said. The thief, a man in his 20s wearing a Dallas Cowboys sweatshirt, ran out. Police took the store's video surveillance tape as evidence.
Murder-trial remarks
YOUNGSTOWN -- Opening statements were to begin today in the murder trial of Christopher L. Love, 25, and Robert Blackshear, 43. The men, both of Youngstown, are charged with the July 1999 death of Olivia Hubbert. Hubbert, 44, was found beaten to death in her Woodcrest Avenue home. The trial is being heard by Judge Robert Lisotto of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.