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Shooting site visit plannedSFlb
YOUNGSTOWN — A man charged in a drive-by shooting in which one 17-year-old was killed and another was wounded is on trial in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
The jury trial of Deon Glenn, 20, of Glenwood Avenue, began Monday before Judge Lou A. D’Apolito on one count of aggravated murder and five counts of attempted murder with firearm specifications.
Glenn, who faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted, is charged with fatally shooting Maressia Patterson of Upland Avenue and wounding Akeem Minor of Lauderdale Avenue.
Patterson and Minor were among a group of six people who were alleged to have been fired upon from the front passenger seat of a car May 26, 2007, on Ford Avenue.
The jury, which was selected Monday, will view the North Side shooting scene this morning before hearing opening statements from Martin P. Desmond, assistant county prosecutor, and David L. Engler, the defense lawyer.
Robert Jackson, 20, of East Evergreen Avenue, the driver of the car from which the shots were reput-edly fired, originally faced all of the same charges as Glenn, but Jackson pleaded guilty to one charge Feb. 10.
In the plea agreement, Desmond substituted an obstructing-justice charge for the aggravated-murder charge against Jackson and dropped the five attempted-murder counts and firearm specifications that had been lodged against him.
In the deal, Jackson pleaded guilty to obstructing justice and agreed to testify against Glenn.
There is no evidence that Jackson knew before the shooting that Glenn was armed or intended to shoot anyone, Desmond said, explaining why he made the plea deal with Jackson.
The obstruction-of-justice charge, however, alleges Jackson removed shell casings from the car after the shooting.
Patterson, who was fatally shot in the back, and Minor had left a party on Lora Avenue and were walking on Ford Avenue when gunfire erupted from the car at 12:30 a.m., police said.
Witnesses told police the shooting resulted from an online feud between groups at Chaney High School and the former Rayen School.
Six or seven shots were fired from the car between Norwood and Crandall avenues, witnesses told police.