Man gets 24-year-to-life prison term on murder charge

YOUNGSTOWN — James A. Hudson Jr. received a 24-year-to-life prison sentence for nearly decapitating another man last August on the city’s South Side.

Hudson, 33, of West Ravenwood Avenue, drew the sentence today from Judge Thomas P. Curran for the murder of Jajuan Robbins.

The visiting Mahoning County Common Pleas Court judge sentenced Hudson to 15 years to life for the murder, three consecutive years for the firearm specification, and six consecutive years for a repeat violent offender specification.

Prosecutors said Hudson was the doorman at a Cain Street crack house, where he argued with Robbins, pistol-whipped and mutilated him and used a broken iced tea bottle to nearly decapitate him.

Police found the body of Robbins, 20, whose last known address was on Pasadena Avenue, on a bedroom floor several hours after he was killed Aug. 13, 2008.

The coroner said Robbins suffered three gunshot wounds to the head and died of gunshot and sharp force injuries.

The repeat violent offender specification stems from Hudson’s 1996 aggravated robbery conviction.