YOUNGSTOWN Woman gets probation in stabbing of man

The woman apologized for hurting the victim but not for defending herself.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Shanika Carver got a break for her birthday.
Instead of going to prison for stabbing her former boyfriend, she was placed on probation and allowed to go home.
Carver, who turned 20 on Friday, was in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for sentencing on a charge of aggravated assault, to which she pleaded guilty in December.
She could have been sentenced to up to 18 months in prison, but a background check by the Ohio Adult Parole Authority recommended probation instead. Prosecutors did not object.
The Otis Street woman said she was fending off her former boyfriend, Charles Bush, in a scuffle at the WRTA bus station downtown in May.
"I'm sorry for hurting him, but I'm not sorry for protecting myself," Carver told Judge Robert Lisotto. "I just wanted him to leave me alone."
Defense attorney Robert J. Rohrbaugh II said Carver was dressed in a white business suit and on her way to a job interview, Rohrbaugh said.
When Bush showed up at the bus station and asked where she was going, an argument ensued.
Poured cola on her
Rohrbaugh said Bush took a nearly full can of cola from a nearby trash can and poured it all over Carver's white suit, then put her in a headlock.
Assistant prosecutor Robert Andrews said that's when Carver pulled out a small knife that she carried for protection and stabbed him about a half-dozen times.
"She overreacted," Rohrbaugh said.
Bush, who survived the stabbing, was in the courtroom Friday but did not wish to make a statement to the judge before sentencing. He faced no charges.
bjackson@vindy.com