Man found guilty of attempted murder

Photo

Robert Armstrong

The gunman faces six to 13 years in prison at Thursday’s sentencing.

Staff Report

YOUNGSTOWN — A six-man, six- woman jury deliberated 30 minutes before finding Robert Armstrong guilty of trying to kill Eric Weaver, who was shot nine times at his Campbell residence on June 23.

Armstrong, 26, of North Hazelwood Avenue, faces six to 13 years in prison when he is sentenced at 9 a.m. Thursday by Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, who presided over the two-day trial.

Weaver, who sat in the back of the courtroom, declined to comment after the jury rendered its guilty verdict Tuesday against his assailant on an attempted-murder charge with a firearm specification.

But Robert E. Bush Jr., the county’s chief criminal prosecutor who prosecuted this case, said he will call for the maximum sentence. “It was obvious that it was an attempted murder, and that sentence would be appropriate,” Bush said.

Because of his injuries from the shooting, Weaver uses a wheelchair and has spent the last 51‚Ñ2 months in a hospital and a nursing home, Bush said.

The shooting shattered Weaver’s wrists, blew off part of his face and exposed a carotid artery, Bush said. Weaver lost a kidney and part of his bowels, and he has plates in his face and shoulder and little feeling in his left leg, Bush said, adding that a bullet was removed from the vicinity of Weaver’s spine two weeks ago.

The 6-foot-2-inch Weaver, who weighs 145 pounds, has lost about 50 pounds since the shooting, Bush added.

Armstrong’s lawyer, Michael Gollings, declined to comment after the judge revoked his client’s bond and his client was handcuffed and taken to jail to await sentencing.

In the courtroom to hear the verdict were 14 college-bound juniors and seniors from East and Chaney high schools, who are in a pilot service learning project, in which they are shadowing professionals in law, medicine, architecture, engineering and technology to familiarize them with various professions.