YOUNGSTOWN Jury will decide fate of murderer

The jury was to begin deliberating John Drummond Jr.'s sentence this morning.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- It took John Drummond about a minute to beg for his life.
"I did not commit this crime," Drummond said Thursday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. "I ask the jury to have mercy on me and not send me to Death Row."
Drummond, 26, of Allerton Court, briefly addressed the jurors who will decide whether he should be executed or imprisoned for life. The same jury convicted him last week of multiple counts of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, felonious assault and firing into a house.
The eight-man, four-woman jury was sent home for the night by Judge Maureen A. Cronin, and was to begin deliberating Drummond's punishment this morning.
Possibilities
The panel can recommend that Drummond be put to death, or that he be sent to prison with eligibility for parole after serving 25 years, 30 years, or never.
Drummond was convicted of firing 10 shots from an assault rifle into the Rutledge Drive home of Jiyen C. Dent Sr. and LaToya Butler in March 2003. One of the shots fatally wounded the couple's 3-month-old son, Jiyen C. Dent Jr., who was in the living room at the time.
Assistant Prosecutor Timothy Franken said the motive was retaliation, because Drummond believed that Dent was involved in a prior shooting in which one of Drummond's friends was killed. Drummond, though, said that's not true.
"Jiyen, I know that you or nobody you hang with had anything to do with the death of Bret Schroeder," he said, expressing his condolences to Dent and Butler for the death of their baby.
Unsworn statement
Drummond did not testify during the penalty phase of his trial, but opted instead to make an unsworn statement, which is permitted under Ohio law in death-penalty cases. The defendant is allowed to speak without taking an oath to tell the truth, and without cross-examination by prosecutors.
Drummond's statement, which he read from a yellow legal pad, lasted about a minute.
Other witnesses presented Thursday by defense attorneys James Gentile and Ronald Yarwood were Drummond's parents, Cynthia Drummond and John Drummond Sr. Both said they were aware that their son was involved with gang activity as a teenager, but they were unable to make him stop.
"His favorite color is blue, just like mine is," Mrs. Drummond said.
Franken pointed out that blue also is the color worn by Crips gang members. Several witnesses testified during the trial that Drummond is a member of the Lincoln Knolls Crips.
bjackson@vindy.com