Defendant agrees to plea deal in death of South Side man

Grant was accused in the September 2002 slaying of Jefferson Smith.
YOUNGSTOWN -- A city man who sat in Mahoning County Jail for three years awaiting trial on murder charges opted to enter a guilty plea to lesser charges just before a jury was to be selected to hear his case.
Donteill Grant, 27, was indicted on aggravated murder, conspiracy to aggravated murder and aggravated robbery charges in early 2004 in the September 2002 slaying of Jefferson Smith Jr., 57, who was found shot to death in his South Side home.
Trial was to begin Monday before Judge James C. Evans of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, but Grant decided to accept a plea bargain at the last minute instead, offering a guilty plea to charges of voluntary manslaughter with a gun specification and aggravated robbery. All other charges were dismissed.
The gun specification carries a mandatory three-year prison sentence, and Grant could face up to 10 years on both the manslaughter and robbery counts, both first-degree felonies.
Sentencing has been set for 10 a.m. June 20 before Judge Evans.
Reasons for delay
Authorities said the delay in bringing Grant to trial was attributable to a number of factors, including assistant prosecutors' and defense attorneys' being assigned and later removed from the case, missing files and a problem with the defense getting evidence it was entitled to from the prosecution.
Two other defendants in the Smith murder, Tamika F. Lightning, 26, of Parkview Avenue and Kevin Anderson, 23, of Mabel Street, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to aggravated murder and were set to testify against Grant as part of their plea bargains.
Neither has been sentenced, and both have been free on their own recognizance pending the Grant trial.