Judge sentences man in shooting

The men argued over calls between Duckworth and the victim's girlfriend.
By DEBORA SHAULIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Dorian L. Duckworth says he wanted to confront Charles L. Coleman, not shoot him.
"This was nothing but a fistfight gone awry," Duckworth, 50, of West Warren Avenue, told Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on Tuesday.
Judge Krichbaum sentenced Duckworth to a total of six years in prison -- five years for felonious assault and one year for a firearm specification -- in the Sept. 2 shooting of Coleman, 43, of Idora Avenue.
Duckworth pleaded guilty Nov. 3 to both charges as part of a plea agreement. He will be credited with 120 days served in Mahoning County jail.
Coleman spoke before sentencing, telling Judge Krichbaum that he wanted Duckworth to leave his longtime girlfriend alone. Duckworth also had known the woman for many years, and Coleman wondered if the two had become romantically involved when Duckworth called over a period of months.
Confrontation
Coleman said that on Sept. 2 he told Duckworth for the second time to stop calling her. A few hours later, Duckworth went to Coleman's home and shot him in front of Coleman's 15-year-old-daughter, he said.
Coleman said he was hospitalized for 40 days. Doctors removed a kidney, his spleen and part of his colon. A bullet that is pressing on a nerve is affecting his ability to walk, he said while clutching a footed cane.
Duckworth said that the woman initiated the phone calls and that they were merely friends. Coleman had been threatening him -- "He told my family he was going to blow my head off," Duckworth told the judge -- so Duckworth decided to confront him.
Duckworth's lawyer, Atty. James A. Melone, said his client made "a terrible mistake" by taking a gun with him. Duckworth said the gun was for protection, and it went off while the men were fighting.
Duckworth took the law into his own hands by going to Coleman's house with a gun, Judge Krichbaum said before imposing his sentence.
shaulis@vindy.com