Panel upholds murder conviction

staff reporT

YOUNGSTOWN — A three-judge panel of the 7th District Court of Appeals unanimously has upheld the conviction of Gregory McGee for the Aug. 25, 2006, murder of Charles Bush.

A jury convicted McGee, 23, of Selma Avenue, of murder with a gun specification and of being a felon with a gun. Judge James C. Evans of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court sentenced him to 21 years to life in prison.

Bush, 21, of Lora Avenue, was fatally shot in the chest in a second-floor apartment at 30 Saranac Ave. on the city’s North Side.

McGee said he acted in self- defense in a struggle after Bush had threatened him, but prosecutors called the shooting a murder and said McGee fled the scene and didn’t call 911. The autopsy showed no injuries on Bush consistent with a struggle, prosecutors said.

The appeals panel rejected McGee’s claims that his defense lawyer, Anthony P. Meranto, didn’t effectively represent him and that Judge Evans incorrectly instructed the jury concerning self-defense.

The appeals court decision was written by Judge Cheryl L. Waite, with Judges Gene Donofrio and Joseph J. Vukovich concurring.