MAHONING COUNTY 2 plead guilty in homicides

The cases involved homicides from 2001 and 2002.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Pleas of guilty were entered Monday in two unrelated homicide cases in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Bob E. Kelly, 23, of Indianola Road, pleaded to involuntary manslaughter, which was reduced by prosecutors from the original charge of aggravated murder.
When Kelly is eventually sentenced by Judge Jack Durkin, prosecutors will recommend four years in prison, plus three years for using a firearm. Kelly will get credit for 2 1/2 years he's spent in the county jail awaiting trial, said Gina Arnaut, assistant prosecutor.
Kelly's lawyer, Thomas Zena, said the plea agreement was made because Kelly has cooperated with prosecutors by providing information about an unrelated homicide case pending in common pleas court.
Part of the agreement is that Kelly continue cooperating and that he testify when the other case goes to trial, if necessary.
Assistant Prosecutor Jay Macejko said Kelly shot 21-year-old Michael P. Olds of Benita Avenue several times after an argument and fistfight at Midway Market on Elm Street, on the city's North Side, in February 2001.
Macejko said after Kelly tried to break up a fight between Olds and another man in the store's parking lot, Olds threatened to kill Kelly and reached for a gun that someone else was holding. Kelly pulled a gun and shot Olds once, then followed Olds into the store and shot him at least three more times.
Other case
Kisha Roman, 34, of Hunter Street, pleaded guilty to reckless homicide for the March 24, 2002, shooting death of her neighbor, Dennis Best, 49, at his South Side home.
Arnaut said Roman had taken the gun to Best after he was in a fight with three men. Roman told police Best had pulled the gun's trigger several times and it did not fire. She said she thought the gun was unloaded when she pulled the trigger to fire the bullet that struck Best. He was found with a bullet wound behind his left ear.
Arnaut said forensics tests showed gunshot residue on the victim's hands but not on Roman's. She also said a coroner's findings could have supported a defense argument that the fatal wound was self-inflicted.
"It was not a very good case," she said, explaining the reason for the plea agreement.
Arnaut said she will recommend three years in prison for the reckless homicide charge and three years for using a gun when Roman is sentenced by Judge Durkin. Arnaut will ask that the terms be served concurrently.
bjackson@vindy.com