Wednesday, January 18, 2006
By DEBORA SHAULIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Robert Smith wasn't only Kenneth Smith's older brother; he was a willing kidney donor.
But Robert Smith lost his life before he could help to preserve his brother's.
In December 2003 -- two months before the transplant operation was to occur -- 29-year-old Robert Smith was robbed of his car, then shot in the back at the 541 Club on North Garland Avenue.
Kenneth Smith, of Eliot Lane, cried as he spoke Tuesday at the sentencing of his brother's killer, Darrin L. Moore, 19, of Willis Avenue.
A jury in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court found Moore guilty Friday of aggravated murder and aggravated robbery, both with firearm specifications; two counts of receiving stolen property; escape; and failure to comply with a signal of police. Judge James C. Evans sentenced Moore to 49 years in prison.
"It was all just senseless," Kenneth Smith said of his brother's death.
Asked for maximum
Tall, thin and soft-spoken, Kenneth Smith asked that Moore receive the maximum penalty of 49 years "just for the simple fact that my brother -- he didn't deserve to die," he said. Robert Smith also had a daughter, who is now 3, he said.
Timothy E. Franken, assistant county prosecutor, talked about Kenneth Smith's need for a kidney transplant as an example of how crimes affect many people's lives.
After sentencing, Kenneth Smith said Robert Smith was his best match for a kidney. Kenneth Smith has another brother who could donate but is afraid, he said. He continues to take dialysis treatments and is near the top of a list when donated kidneys become available.
Defense lawyer Ronald D. Yarwood said Moore "never really had a chance" in life because of family problems and asked for minimum prison time on the receiving stolen property, escape and failure to comply convictions. Sentencing is about finding balance between protecting the public, punishing offenders and providing rehabilitation, which could succeed "if there's light at the end of the tunnel," Yarwood said.
"I don't think we're in a rehabilitation status," Judge Evans said.
Shot in the back
Moore shot Robert Smith in the back after taking his car and while Robert Smith was running away from him, which was a "very heinous, cowardly act," Judge Evans said. Moore also had escaped from the county's juvenile justice center, warranting consecutive sentencing, he added.
Moore will serve 20 years to life for aggravated murder; 10 years for aggravated robbery; a total of three years on both gun specifications; 18 months on each receiving stolen property conviction; eight years for escape; and five years for failure to comply.
Moore hasn't seen the inside of the Mahoning County Courthouse for the last time.
A second trial has yet to be scheduled for charges of aggravated robbery, gross sexual imposition, kidnapping and felonious assault. Moore is accused of accosting a Lisbon woman in the parking lot of an apartment complex on Mathews Road in Boardman in September 2003.
Moore was being held at the juvenile justice center on those charges when he complained of leg pain in October 2003. Moore was taken to Forum Health Northside Medical Center for treatment, but threw down his crutches and ran as he and an officer were leaving the hospital.
Wanted in slaying
When police arrested Moore in January 2004, after a chase and while he was driving a stolen car, Moore was wanted in Smith's murder.
Moore also has a third trial pending on felonious assault charges involving two Mahoning County deputy sheriffs while he has been in the county jail, Franken said.
shaulis@vindy.com