MAHONING COUNTY Man is sentenced in shooting death

Two suspects have pleaded guilty. A third is awaiting trial.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Odis Simmons said when he and three of his friends set out to rob a Youngstown couple last summer, they didn't intend for anyone to die -- especially one of their own.
But 17-year-old William Lee, who authorities say was one of Simmons' accomplices, was shot and killed during the robbery. Simmons took responsibility for his role in the death by pleading guilty Tuesday to felony charges in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Judge Maureen A. Sweeney sentenced him to a total of 13 years in prison after a recommendation from the county prosecutor's office.
Assistant Prosecutor Robert Andrews said the plea agreement he made with Simmons requires Simmons to cooperate in cases against other defendants, including trial testimony if necessary.
About the case
Prosecutors say Simmons, Lee and two other men, Latrell Jackson and Terry Rozier, conspired to rob the Aurora Drive couple in late July 2003. They are accused of demanding more money after they'd already robbed the man of $400.
While Rozier stayed behind to guard the man's wife, who was tied up in a house on Woodford Avenue, the other three put the man in his own car and took him to get more money.
Along the way, the man struggled with Jackson for a gun. The gun fired and the bullet struck Lee, of East Dewey Avenue, in the abdomen. Since Lee was killed during a robbery, the others were charged with his death even though police thought he was their accomplice.
Simmons, Jackson and Rozier all were charged with murder for Lee's death and two counts each of kidnapping and aggravated robbery for what happened to the Aurora Drive couple.
Plea agreement
As part of the plea agreement, the aggravated murder charge against Simmons was reduced to involuntary manslaughter, to which he pleaded guilty in June. He also pleaded guilty to the kidnapping and aggravated robbery charges and to using a firearm while committing a crime.
Simmons told Judge Sweeney that neither he nor his friends intended for Lee, or anyone else, to be killed that night.
"I had something to do with it, and now I've got to pay for it. I'm all right with that," Simmons said.
Defense attorney John B. Juhasz said it's a sad case because everyone accused of committing the crime is so young.
"Everybody involved in this case is literally a baby. [Simmons] is just two years older than my son," Juhasz said. "They just weren't using their reason and common sense."
Jackson, 21, of Hilton Avenue, pleaded guilty in April to charges identical to Simmons' and is awaiting sentencing. Rozier, 28, of Woodford Avenue, is awaiting trial.
bjackson@vindy.com