Teen gets 18 years in 2008 homicide

By John W. Goodwin Jr.

YOUNGSTOWN — One of three people accused of gunning down a city man during a botched robbery in 2008 will spend the next 18 years of his life in prison.

Joshua Dixon, 18, of Robinwood Place, appeared Wednesday before Judge Lou D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for sentencing on one count of involuntary manslaughter, one count of aggravated robbery and felonious assault. Dixon, in a plea agreement with prosecutors, pleaded guilty to the charges.

Judge D’Apolito sentenced Dixon to 10 years for the involuntary-manslaughter charge, three years for the gun specification, three years for the aggravated robbery and two years for the felonious assault. The sentences are to run consecutively.

The charges stem from a 2008 incident in which three teens, including Dixon, attempted to rob William E. Howell, 47, of Dupont Street. Howell was shot in the neck around 7:30 p.m. Oct. 29, 2008, and died a short time later in St. Elizabeth Health Center.

Dixon offered an apology to Howell’s family present in the courtroom during the sentencing. He called Howell a good man but said he was unable to stop the events leading up to his shooting once those events were set in motion.

Howell’s sister, Jackie Kelly, was not fazed by Dixon’s words. She told the court she hopes the 18 years Dixon is required to serve in prison are miserable.

“I still cry when I think about my brother. My brother wasn’t perfect, but he didn’t deserve what these men did to him,” she told the judge. “He originally agreed to 26 years, but the state decided to let him do 18. OK, but it would have been nice if they would have at least talked to me, my sister or somebody.”

Kelly brought a picture of the nieces and nephews she said Howell loved dearly and said it is still difficult explaining the situation to the younger kids.

Atty. Ronald Yarwood, representing Dixon, described his client as a “quiet individual” influenced by others he was with the night of the shooting. He said his client’s youth and upbringing did not afford him the tools to avoid the situation.

Judge D’Apolito said the explanations about Dixon’s youth and childhood make sense but cannot be used to avoid punishment.

“This is senseless; it’s all senseless. I did not know Mr. Howell, if he were a good man or a bad man, but I know he did not deserve to lose his life the way he did,” the judge said. “We have to stop these senseless killings in our community.”

According to police, Dixon and two other boys, all minors at the time, went to the Dupont Street apartment and were let in by a woman inside the residence.

Reports show one of the boys pulled a gun and asked, “Where’s the gun and money?” The second held a knife to the woman’s throat and told her not to move. The first boy then went upstairs after handing the gun to Dixon, police said.

Howell and Dixon shoved each other, and then two gunshots were heard, police said. The boy who’d been upstairs ran down, and the woman believes he shot her on the way out.

Dixon, who was taken to the hospital by a relative, told the relative on the way to the hospital that he had been shot in the stomach by Howell.

jgoodwin@vindy.com