Killer gets 23 years to life

It was ‘a cruel, cold, heartless killing,’ the judge said.

By PETER H. MILLIKEN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — In a highly emotional sentencing hearing, a man charged in a shotgun slaying almost 18 months ago was sentenced to 23 years to life in prison, as recommended by the prosecution.

Judge James C. Evans of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court imposed the sentence Friday on Andre Maxwell, 24, of Regent Street, in the July 20, 2006, killing of Corey Stone, 19, of Dignan Street, after Maxwell pleaded guilty as charged to aggravated murder with a gun specification.

Maxwell will serve 20 years to life on the aggravated murder charge, plus three years for the gun specification.

Witnesses told police three or four carloads of men confronted Stone in the 1100 block of Sunshine Avenue about his possible involvement in the beating of a friend of theirs. The attackers punched Stone and knocked him to the ground before Maxwell grabbed a shotgun from a car and opened fire, striking Stone under an arm, police reports said. Maxwell was apprehended in Reynoldsburg, a Columbus suburb, in August 2006.

“You have committed the utmost offense — a cruel, cold, heartless killing,” Judge Evans told Maxwell before imposing the sentence, adding that Maxwell’s remorse appeared to be short-lived.

Maxwell’s grandmother, Dora McMillan, of Sunshine Avenue, testified at the sentencing hearing that Maxwell had a troubled childhood, much of it in foster and group homes.

“I robbed your family of one of your members, and I could never repay what I took,” Maxwell told members of Stone’s family, some of whom turned their heads away from him and toward the back of the courtroom as he apologized to them.

“He did this maliciously. He did this deliberately,” said the victim’s mother, Tracy Stone, who called for a sentence longer than 20 years. “My son pleaded with him over and over that he did not have anything to do with that fight,” before Maxwell shot him four times, she told the judge.

“His freedom should be taken away as long as humanly possible,” said Stone’s father, Tony Stone. “Our sorrow and pain is for a lifetime. He needs to feel that same sorrow and pain for a lifetime,” he added.

“Beware. There’s a God, and you’ve got to pay. ... I hope you get all the wrath that God can put on you,” the victim’s aunt, Tina Womack, told Maxwell.