Man gets probation in 1998 homicide

The recent court case was delayed for years because of Ronald Dowdy's health.
By DEBORA SHAULIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Ronald D. Dowdy has killed two people, but he hasn't been sent to prison either time.
Dowdy, 51, now of Hillman Street, received two years' probation for a 1979 murder charge. He was accused in the fatal shooting of Edward King outside a bar on Madison Avenue.
His poor health was one reason he was placed on a five years' probation again Tuesday for fatally shooting a man seven years ago.
Dowdy pleaded guilty earlier this year to voluntary manslaughter with a repeat violence offense specification and for illegal possession of weapons for the death of Harold L. Reeder in May 1998.
Dowdy told police he shot Reeder to break up a fight between Reeder and a woman on Dowdy's property on Clyde Street.
Series of health problems
Dowdy's court case was postponed for years because he was hospitalized at least six times and sent to nursing homes at least four times for problems related to his paralysis, Atty. Thomas E. Zena told Judge Maureen A. Cronin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Dowdy was accidentally shot in 1984, and the bullet severed his spine, Zena said.
The defense was prepared to call its witnesses to testify in the Reeder case, Zena said. Witnesses for the prosecution, however, have scattered over the years, Judge Cronin said. Had the case gone to trial without their testimony, it may have ended in dismissal, she said.
Dowdy took responsibility for his actions, the judge noted.
Judge Cronin accepted the agreement reached by Zena and the county prosecutor's office, sentencing Dowdy to five years' probation for voluntary manslaughter and one year's probation for the weapons count to run concurrently.
When Judge Cronin reminded Dowdy of his obligation to report regularly to his probation officer, Dowdy told her he has transportation problems.
He recently broke both legs while riding a Western Reserve Transit Authority bus. He flew out of his wheelchair when the vehicle came to a sudden stop, he said.
"I'm a prisoner in my own body," Dowdy told the judge.
shaulis@vindy.com