VEHICULAR MANSLAUGHTER Victim's mom says she wants justice

A mother believes a second vehicle was involved in her son's traffic death.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- A sobbing Shelley Gillespie says she just wants to see justice done in the name of her 14-year-old boy.
"I will not stop until I find out what happened," Gillespie said Wednesday after Dennis L. Shoemaker, the man accused of running over her son Dean, was found guilty of vehicular manslaughter.
Shoemaker, 43, of High Street, pleaded no contest before municipal Judge Thomas W. Townley, who found him guilty. He will be sentenced at 9 a.m. June 9 after a presentence report is completed.
The charge is a second-degree misdemeanor. He could receive a maximum 90 days in jail and a $750 fine.
Shoemaker is charged with hitting the Niles Middle School eighth-grader with his car while the boy was standing in Linden Avenue on his way to school Jan. 16.
John Marhulik, the city's traffic officer, said the investigation couldn't determine why the boy was in the road and didn't show that there were other vehicles involved.
Gillespie disagrees. She believes her son was initially struck by a vehicle and then by Shoemaker's car.
What mother said
The 34-year-old mother said she is satisfied with the plea but believes Shoemaker should serve time in jail because he wasn't watching the road when he struck Dean.
Gillespie explained that she has hired an attorney to investigate the death.
Shoemaker declined to comment to the judge during the plea.
"Now I have to go to the cemetery every week to see my son. This is a shame," Gillespie said.
As she talked, Gillespie had family members and representatives of the Trumbull County Victim-Witness Program stand with her to offer support.
"I don't have [my] son anymore," Gillespie said. She has another son, 14-year-old Anthony.
The mother said she and her family, especially Anthony, aren't doing well in coping with their loss.
Gillespie explained that she's no longer working because she can't cope with job stress and that she, Anthony and other family members have been undergoing counseling.
Not satisfied with the investigation of the death, Gillespie asked anyone with information to contact city police at (330) 652-9944.
yovich@vindy.com