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Shooter sentenced to 15 years to life in murder
A co-defendant earlier went to prison for 18 years for the robbery and fatal shooting.
YOUNGSTOWN — A defendant in a robbery and fatal shooting has been sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.
Durral L. Justice, 19, of Jacobs Road, drew the sentence Tuesday from Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in the Sept. 8, 2005, shooting death of Ralph Miller, 53, of East Wood Street.
The sentence consists of 15 years to life for the murder of Miller; 10 years for the attempted murder of Charles Glenn, 44, of Glenwood Avenue, who was shot in the face in the same incident; and 10 years each for two counts of aggravated robbery, all to be served concurrently.
Justice had earlier pleaded guilty to these charges in a plea agreement, in which the prosecution agreed to reduce the homicide charge from aggravated murder to murder and to drop a three-year firearm specification.
The judge imposed the sentence that had been recommended by the prosecution and defense.
Judge Sweeney sentenced a co-defendant, Alonzo Thigpen, 20, of Jacobs Road, to 18 years in prison in March 2007.
Thigpen and Justice approached Miller and Glenn to rob them as they sat in a pickup truck outside the home of an elderly Nelson Avenue couple, where Miller was a caregiver for a 92-year-old man with Alzheimer’s disease, police reports said.
Justice shot Miller, and Thigpen shot Glenn, according to Robert J. Andrews, assistant county prosecutor.
Glenn has since died of natural causes.
Although Thigpen received a definite sentence of 18 years, and Justice received a 15 years to life sentence, Andrews said it’s likely Justice will actually serve more prison time than Thigpen.
Based on parole board norms, Andrews said Justice will likely serve closer to 25 to 30 years.
Andrews said he made the plea agreement because the prosecution’s case in a trial would have been adversely affected by Glenn’s death, by uncertainty concerning admissibility of a statement Justice gave police, and by a witness’s uncertain identification of Justice as one of the gunmen.
Justice, who was 16 when he committed the crimes and apologized for his actions during the sentencing hearing, had been bound over from juvenile court for trial as an adult.
He’ll get credit for 935 jail days he already has served.
Disposition of the case was delayed by postponements in taking Glenn’s deposition because of Glenn’s ill health before his death, plea negotiations and scheduling conflicts of lawyers and the court, Andrews said.
Ralph Scott of Butler, Pa., read in court a victim impact statement written by his aunt, Julia Conner, of Butler, Pa., who is Ralph Miller’s sister.
“I don’t know what gave you the right to take my brother from me. ... I hope the judge gives you life like you took my brother’s life. He now has two grandchildren he will never see,” Conner wrote, addressing Justice.
“I was named after my uncle, and I miss him, and we hope you give him [Justice] the max sentence,” Scott told Judge Sweeney.
milliken@vindy.com