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Grand jury gets case of feuding women
YOUNGSTOWN
A Mahoning County grand jury must decide if charges of attempted murder and felonious assault against three women should go forward.
Shalena Clark, 38, her daughter Rayshawnda Clark, 20, and Darlesha Jones, 19, were arrested after an ongoing feud between two groups of women that ended with the attempted use of a gun last week.
The women appeared for a preliminary hearing Wednesday before Judge Robert Douglas of Youngstown Municipal Court.
Shalena Clark, who is jailed under a $50,000 bond, is charged with two counts of attempted murder.
Rayshawnda Clark remains jailed under $100,000 bond on charges of attempted murder, three counts of felonious assault and two counts of criminal damaging.
Jones is jailed under $25,000 bond on one count of complicity to felonious assault.
Judge Douglas, after testimony from a witness to the alleged attack and cross-examination from three attorneys representing the accused women, decided there is enough evidence to allow the case to be heard by the grand jury.
The witness described a day full of violent episodes between the women beginning at 12:30 a.m. when Rayshawnda Clark reportedly used a large wrench to break out the windows of a Ford Explorer belonging to another woman. The witness said Rayshawnda Clark also cut her with a pair of scissors.
The witness told the court the violence continued later that same day with the Clark women allegedly hurling rocks at an Avondale Avenue home while the three victims in the case slept inside.
The witness told the court the day culminated at the Brooklyn Avenue home where the Clarks and Jones live. She said she and her mother went to the home to speak with the women about the ongoing feud, but a fight broke out.
The witness said one of her friends was beaten with pots and pans then sprayed with oven cleaner. The witness said Shalena Clark pulled out a small silver gun and pointed it at the head of her friend and pulled the trigger, but the gun did not fire.
The witness added that Rayshawnda Clark took the gun and pointed it at a general crowd of people and pulled the trigger, but the weapon did not fire.
Defense attorneys Lou DeFabio, Michael Kivlighan and John Laczko, representing the three women, questioned the witness extensively about the events of the day. The attorneys reminded the court that most of the incidents, particularly those involving the gun, took place at the defendants’ home as they were ordering the other women to leave.