Monday, November 22, 2010
WARREN
Johntee Daniel, 17, the Warren boy who hit 15-year-old Verdarell Lowery in the head with a baseball bat July 21, causing a brain injury, pleaded guilty this morning to two counts of felonious assault and was sentenced to two years in the custody of the Ohio Department of Youth Services.
Daniel, who was 16 at the time of the assault, gets credit for the four months he has served in the Trumbull County Juvenile Justice Center, said Stanley Elkins, an assistant Trumbull County Prosecutor.
The sentencing was conducted by Juvenile Magistrate Monte Horton in Trumbull County Juvenile Court.
Another defendant in the case, Shawndon Flowers, 15, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault Nov. 10, was sentenced to 90 days in the Trumbull County Juvenile Justice Center, which he had already served, and was released.
He will be on probation for at least 90 days but could remain on probation up to age 21, depending on his conduct, Elkins said.
Shawndon Flowers is alleged to have handed the bat to Johntee Daniel, Elkins said.
The third defendant, Johntee Daniel’s younger brother, Jovan Daniel, 15, is still in juvenile custody and is set for trial Dec. 22 on a felonious assault charge. He is accused of stomping on Lowery’s chest with his feet.
Lowery suffered a brain injury requiring daily medication but is “fine,” his mother, Kim Lowery, said after the hearing.