Woman gets 13 years in prison for killing boyfriend

The defendant drew the maximum term for voluntary manslaughter.

staff report

YOUNGSTOWN — A 32-year-old Byron Street woman has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for fatally shooting her boyfriend.

Latoya G. Ingram drew the sentence Friday from Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in the June 2007 death of Sherman Moody, 54, of Logan Gate Road, Liberty.

Ingram, who was originally charged with murder, had pleaded guilty in February to a reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter.

The prosecution had asked that the maximum sentence of 10 years be imposed for the manslaughter, plus three consecutive years for the firearm specification, for a total of 13 years, and the judge imposed that sentence.

The original charge of murder with a gun specification would have carried 18 years to life in prison upon conviction.

When police arrived at Ingram’s residence, where the shooting occurred, Ingram told them she felt threatened by Moody, so she shot him. Moody was shot multiple times with a pistol, which police found at the scene along with six spent shell casings.

Ingram’s lawyer, Douglas B. Taylor, withdrew her previous insanity plea before she pleaded guilty to the homicide charge.

Evaluations found Ingram sane at the time of the shooting and competent to stand trial, but a psychologist found that she suffered from battered-woman syndrome because of earlier abusive relationships she had been in and that she was mentally ill, Taylor said.

“She is in a very difficult situation because she clearly suffers from serious emotional illness,” Taylor said of Ingram.

Had the case gone to trial, battered- woman syndrome would have been a defense the jury would have considered, Taylor said. However, he said he and his client didn’t want to risk going to trial on the murder charge and having the jury decline to accept that defense.

Ingram had no prior criminal record. There was no sign of a struggle, and no other gun, drugs or alcohol were found in Ingram’s home, police said.