Man gets 13 years in shooting death

The defendant had pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Anthony J. Mobley was sentenced to 13 years in prison -- the maximum sentence for voluntary manslaughter with a firearm specification -- in the March 21, 2005, shooting death of Nathaniel Freeman, 26, of Halleck Street.
As recommended by Martin P. Desmond, assistant county prosecutor, Judge James C. Evans of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court imposed 10 years on the voluntary manslaughter charge plus three years for the gun specification at a sentencing hearing Thursday.
Mobley had pleaded guilty in October to those charges, which were reduced from aggravated murder with a gun specification.
After an argument over a woman, Mobley, 24, of South Jackson Street, shot Freeman four times with a handgun outside the woman's home in the 200 block of Wayne Avenue, hitting Freeman in the back and leg, police said. Mobley had been dating the former longtime girlfriend of a close friend of Freeman's, Desmond explained.
Explanation of charges
The aggravated murder charge accused Mobley of purposely planning Freeman's death. The voluntary manslaughter charge says he purposely caused Freeman's death while acting under sudden provocation from the victim.
Mobley said Freeman pointed a gun at him during the argument, and the woman said Freeman and his friend previously had tried to run Mobley off the road, Desmond said.
"There were some mitigating circumstances that required the reduction in charges from the murder to the manslaughter. ... The reduction with the maximum sentence was a proper outcome for the case based upon the facts that were available," Desmond said.
Based on provocation from Freeman and Mobley's remorse and lack of significant prior criminal record, defense lawyer Thomas E. Zena unsuccessfully requested that the judge consider sentencing Mobley to eight years, consisting of five years for the manslaughter and three years for the gun specification.