Guilty plea in shooting deaths

YOUNGSTOWN — A Girard man has entered a guilty plea in the shooting deaths of two people on April 7, 2006, in an apartment at 840 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. The homicides occurred less than two weeks after the suspect’s release from prison.

Taurus L. Hearns, 32, of East Liberty Street, pleaded guilty Thursday to aggravated robbery and two counts of involuntary manslaughter with a firearm specification in the deaths of the apartment resident, Ronnie R. Summers, 45, and of Sampson J. Williams III, 34, of Fairgreen and Clearmount avenues. Williams was found dead on a couch. Summers was shot in the chest and died later.

Hearns faces six to 33 years in prison when he is sentenced at 10 a.m. April 19 by Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. The judge told Hearns he’ll be on parole for five years after his release. Had he been convicted of the original charges of aggravated robbery and two counts of murder, Hearns would have faced 43 years to life in prison.