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Curtis Young gets life in prison without parole for 3 murders
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JURY DECIDES: Curtis Young is handcuffed Tuesday after hearing a jury’s recommendation that he serve life in prison without possibility of parole for the July 2007 murders of three.
Nothing could make the three deaths less serious, the prosecutor said.
YOUNGSTOWN — Curtis Young again apologized for his actions that claimed three lives nearly two years ago.
“I wish I could change things, but I know it’s too late right now,” he said Friday at his sentencing hearing in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Young, 26, of North Center Street, received the maximum sentence Judge Maureen A. Sweeney could possibly have given him after the jury ruled out the death penalty earlier this week.
As recommended by the prosecution, Judge Sweeney imposed three consecutive life prison terms without parole on Young, plus three consecutive years for the combined firearm specifications.
The jurors, who had convicted Young of the crimes May 8, had recommended he serve life in prison without parole Tuesday, thereby sparing Young from the death penalty.
Young was convicted in the July 31, 2007, shooting deaths of Helen Moore, 29, of Cassius Avenue, who was his ex-girlfriend; her nearly full-term unborn child; and her 8-year-old son, Ceonei.
The final sentencing decision was up to Judge Sweeney, but she could not have imposed death after the jury had recommended a life sentence.
The jurors’ choices in their penalty-phase deliberations were 25 years to life in prison, 30 to life, life imprisonment without parole or death.
Young’s prior criminal record consisted of just one misdemeanor conviction, according to his lawyer, Douglas B. Taylor.
Members of Young’s family testified in the trial’s penalty phase that Young grew up in poverty in a crowded single-parent home.
“Except for one horrible situation in his life, it was like [that of] just about anybody else we know,” Young’s other lawyer, Thomas E. Zena, told the judge.
“Nothing could make those losses less serious,” said Martin P. Desmond, an assistant county prosecutor, referring to the three deaths.
“The decision of the court is no surprise to us,” Zena said, adding that it is very rare for a judge in this type of case to deviate from the jury’s sentencing recommendation.
“I’m very pleased with the outcome. We knew that there were some mitigating factors that were going to be presented that would be difficult for us to overcome,” said Desmond, who had sought the death penalty. “Justice was served.”
“It’s closing a very painful chapter in our family,” Helen Moore’s aunt, Deborah Chattman of Warren, said of the sentencing. In the future, “We hope that a lot of people think about their actions ahead of time,” she added. “We’ve got justice. That’s what we came for.”
Judge Sweeney appointed Atty. John P. Laczko as Young’s lawyer for his appeal.
milliken@vindy.com