Man gets probation in shooting

Judge Krichbaum called Feagin a 'person of quality.'
By DEBORA SHAULIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Donni L. Feagin's clean record and no-excuses attitude, which a judge called "unbelievably refreshing," are reasons why he got probation instead of prison time for the fatal shooting of his abusive stepfather.
"This is a good kid," said Atty. Albert A. Palombaro, who represented Feagin. "Clients just don't walk in like this."
Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court placed Feagin, 22, of Hilton Avenue, on five years' probation Wednesday and ordered him to complete a residential program with Community Corrections Association.
Feagin pleaded guilty in November to reckless homicide, a third-degree felony, for the death of John T. Bowers, 49. He could have been sentenced to up to five years in prison.
Unusual case
It's "extraordinary" to sentence someone to probation when a person's life has been taken, Judge Krichbaum said.
Feagin told the judge that when he arrived home July 28, he walked into the middle of a fight between his mother, Maria Bowers, and his stepfather, whom he still calls "Dad." Feagin said he saw John Bowers choking his mother, then punching her in the head as she tried to crawl away.
Feagin told John Bowers to stop and pulled out a gun, thinking that the man would take him seriously. The room was dark, so Feagin said he backed into a lighted hallway so that John Bowers could see the gun.
Instead, Feagin said, John Bowers went after him.
Feagin said he knows he pulled the gun's trigger, but he doesn't remember deciding to do so. "I never thought it would escalate into something like that," he told the judge.
John Bowers wasn't staying in the house when the shooting occurred. A restraining order had been filed against him after an earlier domestic violence episode, Palombaro said.
After the shooting, Feagin left the house at his mother's urging but turned himself in to police a few days later, Feagin said.
Feagin spoke well and wasn't talking in circles, which was "unbelievably refreshing," Judge Krichbaum said.
Gun for protection
Feagin acquired a gun to protect himself from drug dealers with whom his mother had associated, Palombaro said. Feagin chased the dealers out of the house one day, and the dealers had threatened to get revenge.
Judge Krichbaum said he, too, began to carry a gun after he and his wife received threatening phone calls from a Mahoning County Jail inmate last spring.
Besides Feagin's demeanor, Judge Krichbaum referred to statements by Sharon Kelley, sister of John Bowers, who was understanding and forgiving of Feagin's actions, he said. The judge also noted that Feagin had served honorably with the Army, studied biomedical equipment maintenance, nearly completed an associate's degree and had no criminal record. "You seem to be a person of quality," the judge said.
Assistant County Prosecutor Martin P. Desmond did not recommend a sentence. Judge Krichbaum complimented the prosecutor's office for its work and for deciding not to treat this as a murder case.
Feagin has been depressed since the shooting and is receiving treatment at a Veterans Affairs facility, Palombaro said.
shaulis@vindy.com