Jury gets drive-by shooting case

By Ed Runyan

The prosecutor said the case is an unusual type of drive-by shooting.

YOUNGSTOWN — A Canfield man is on trial on charges of attempted murder and firing a gun into a house, for actions at a cousin’s South Side Youngstown house Sept. 2 during a Labor Day gathering.

In opening statements to the jury in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, Steven Shandor, an assistant prosecutor, said Charles Jones, 42, of St. Andrews Drive,, became upset while attending the family party because his first cousin, Dwayne Jones, asked him to stay away from the back of the bar in the basement of Dwayne’s Aberdeen Avenue home.

“‘Dwayne said, ‘It’s my house. I’ll get the drinks,’” Shandor said, quoting Dwayne Jones.

That caused a shoving match between the cousins and resulted in Charles Jones’ being asked to leave, Shandor said.

Charles Jones began to scream and throw chairs and then threatened to kill his cousin, saying he had a gun in the car, Shandor said. “‘I’m going to come back and kill you, Dwayne,’” Shandor said, quoting Charles Jones.

The Canfield man then left in a light-blue Cadillac but returned at about 15 minutes later, around 8:45 p.m., with a gun pointed out the driver’s side window and began to fire as he came near his cousin’s house, Shandor said.

Dwayne Jones was taking out trash at the time and saw and heard his cousin fire four shots into his house. He ducked behind a chimney when he realized what was happening, Shandor said.

Most of the partygoers were in the basement at the time, but one person was in the first-floor bathroom and another was elsewhere on the first floor.

A bullet was later found on the kitchen floor and another was found in a bathroom wall, Youngstown Patrolman Robert Lockwick testified. The officer found three bullet holes in the house and four bullet casings in the street in front of the house, he said.

“When you think of a drive-by, you don’t think of it involving a family member, but that’s what this is,” Shandor said.

Charles Jones’ attorney, Ronald Knickerbocker, said the testimony of Dwayne Jones and others is not believable.

“They’re not entitled to make up the facts. What you’re going to find is that the facts don’t add up,” he told the jury in Judge Timothy Franken’s courtroom.

If convicted on the charges, Charles Jones could face up to 23 years in prison.

Charles Jones was the last witness as testimony concluded late Tuesday, with jury deliberations getting under way around 4 p.m. Deliberations will continue today.

runyan@vindy.com