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Jury resumes discussion of penalty
Curtis Young Guilty
Gallery
YOUNGSTOWN — A jury today found Curtis Young guilty of all aggravated murder counts, and all firearm and death penalty specifications, in the death of his ex-girlfriend, Helen Moore, 29, of Cassius Street, her nearly full-term unborn child, and her 8-year-old son, Ceonei.
The defendant apologized for killing a mother, her unborn baby and her 8-year-old son.
YOUNGSTOWN — When jurors resume deliberations this morning in the penalty phase of the triple-murder trial of Curtis Young, they’ll have to weigh the aggravating factors against the mitigating circumstances.
If they determine that the prosecution has proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the aggravating factors outweigh the mitigating ones, they must opt for the death penalty, Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court told the jurors Monday.
If they find that the prosecution hasn’t met that burden of proof, they must opt for one of the life sentences: 25 years to life, 30 to life, or life without parole, she instructed.
On May 8, the same jurors convicted Young, 26, of North Center Street, in the July 31, 2007, shooting deaths of Helen Moore, 29, of Cassius Street, who was his ex-girlfriend; her nearly full-term fetus; and her 8-year-old son, Ceonei.
In that verdict, they convicted Young as charged on all aggravated murder counts and all firearm and death-penalty specifications.
The nine-woman, three-man jury will resume deliberations on the penalty at 9 a.m. today. Jurors were sequestered Monday night in a local hotel after deliberating for just over an hour Monday afternoon.
After the jurors reach their penalty verdict, Judge Sweeney will decide Young’s sentence, but she can’t impose the death penalty if the jurors recommend life.
Atty. Robert J. Andrews, an assistant county prosecutor, asked the jurors to opt for a death sentence, but Young’s lawyer, Thomas E. Zena, said he hoped they’d find the mitigating factors sufficient for them to spare Young’s life.
Young delivered a brief unsworn statement Monday, apologizing to his family and the victims’ family and asking for forgiveness. “I should have stayed in the house that day,” rather than emerging into the street in front of his residence and firing a gun, he said. “I’m sorry for the innocent life that was lost because of my actions,” Young added.
Young’s mother, Catherine Young, and his brothers, Keilan, Reginald and D’Angelo Young testified concerning the crowded single-parent home in Birmingham, Ala., where Curtis Young endured poverty, welfare dependency and utility shutoffs before he came to Youngstown as a teenager.
“We had a lot of bad times. ... It was rough for us,” said Keilan Young, a witness called by the defense to present mitigating factors.
Also testifying was Sgt. Kenneth J. Kountz of the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department, who said Curtis Young, who has been jailed since he surrendered to the authorities Aug. 2, 2007, has been cited only twice for rule infractions in the county jail.
In February 2008, Young was cited for possessing an unauthorized item and destroying county property because deputies said he possessed an excessive amount of detergent and had a ripped mattress and burned wires. Young’s other citation was for having an unmade bed in August 2008.
The prosecution did not call any witnesses during the penalty phase of Young’s trial.