YOUNGSTOWN Guilty verdict in baby's killing

Drummond turned to his sister and shrugged his shoulders after the verdicts.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Now that a jury has decided John Drummond Jr. took a baby's life, Drummond must fight for his own life.
Testimony is tentatively set to begin next Thursday in the second phase of Drummond's capital murder trial in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. The same jurors who found the 26-year-old Allerton Court man guilty of multiple felonies Wednesday will determine whether he should be executed or imprisoned for life.
"We're going to push for the death penalty," said Assistant Prosecutor Timothy Franken. "That's what we're here for."
An eight-man, four-woman jury deliberated a total of 12 hours Tuesday and Wednesday before returning with the verdicts. Drummond was convicted of two counts each of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder and felonious assault, and one count of firing a weapon into a home.
He showed no emotion as the verdicts were read. As the jury filed out of the courtroom, he turned to his sister in the back of the courtroom and shrugged his shoulders.
Each aggravated murder charge had death penalty specifications attached to it: One because the victim was less than 13 years old and the other accusing Drummond of a course of conduct in which he killed, or tried to kill, two or more people.
The jury found that the death specifications applied, which is why the second phase is necessary. Defense attorneys James Gentile and Ronald Yarwood will present evidence aimed at persuading the jury to recommend one of three imprisonment options instead of the death penalty.
Drummond could be sentenced to life in prison with no chance of ever being paroled, or with parole eligibility after serving at least 25 or 30 years.
If the jury recommends that Drummond die by lethal injection, which is how Ohio executes criminal defendants, Judge Maureen A. Cronin then must decide whether to actually impose the death sentence or to impose one of the life sentences.
But under Ohio law, if the jury recommends a life sentence, the judge cannot overrule it and impose death.
"We fought hard," Gentile said after the verdict. He and Yarwood declined to comment further since the mitigation phase is yet to come.
Likewise, Franken and Assistant Prosecutor Kelly Johns declined to comment other than to say they were pleased with the verdict.
Authorities said Drummond fired 10 shots from an assault rifle into the Rutledge Drive home of Jiyen C. Dent Sr. and LaToya Butler in March 2003. The couple was at home with their 3-month-old son, Jiyen C. Dent Jr., who was shot in the head and killed. Neither of the parents was shot.
Dent and Butler declined to comment on the verdict, saying they will speak after Drummond is sentenced.
bjackson@vindy.com