MAHONING COUNTY Shooters going to prison

The victims did not want to testify in court.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Darian Patterson knows he is lucky to be headed for a standard prison cell.
It could easily have been one on death row.
"I didn't realize how serious my action was until I saw a guy get [sentenced to] death for the same thing," Patterson said Thursday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. "I give my deepest apologies for my conduct."
He was referring to 26-year-old John Drummond Jr. of Allerton Court, who was sentenced to death in February for firing 10 shots from an assault rifle into a house on Rutledge Drive in March 2003. One of the bullets struck and killed 3-month-old Jiyen C. Dent Jr., who lived there with his parents.
Patterson, 24, of West Warren Avenue, was sentenced to six years in prison Thursday for riddling two houses with bullets May 28, 2003.
Robert M. Jeter, 22, of East Lucius Avenue, also got a six-year sentence for charges that arose from the same shootings.
The men pleaded guilty to multiple felony counts last week.
Judge R. Scott Krichbaum said the men were given generous, but appropriate, plea bargains by the prosecutor's office.
"This was an extraordinary agreement for these types of crimes," the judge said. He said Patterson and Jeter will do time, even though the victims were stubbornly defiant about having to testify against them in court.
Background
Assistant Prosecutor Jason M. Katz said the men were visiting at Patterson's house when someone drove past and fired several gunshots at the home in the middle of the day.
Seeking to avenge that shooting, Patterson and Jeter went out a short time later and fired shots at houses on West Boston and LaBelle avenues, where they believed the people lived who were responsible for shooting Jeter's house. Katz said it's unclear whether the shooters actually lived there.
"This was a situation where emotions ran high," said Jeter's lawyer, Mark Carfolo. He said Jeter was angered because his young children were home and "in the line of fire" when his house was shot.
"What was done here was done in the heat of passion and retribution," said Atty. John B. Juhasz, who represents Patterson.
He said Patterson is an intelligent young man with "a bit of a charming personality," who realizes how wrong his actions were.
Judge Krichbaum said it's lucky no one was hit in any of the shootings. He said Jeter and Patterson should have called police after Jeter's house was shot instead of taking matters into their own hands.
bjackson@vindy.com