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3 plead guilty in shooting incident
YOUNGSTOWN
Three men could spend more than two decades each in prison after pleading guilty to charges related to a 2009 shooting while participating in gang activity.
Wayne Kerns, 20, of Volney Road, Dominique Callier, 19, of Hylda Avenue, and Derrick Johnson, 20, of Clarencedale Avenue, each were charged with two counts of felonious assault with two gun specifications and criminal gang specifications. Callier also had been charged with illegal possession of a weapon and improper discharge of a firearm.
The three men were set to go on trial Monday before Judge John Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court but decided to enter into a plea agreement with prosecutors instead. Callier and Johnson will be sentenced Thursday. Kerns will be sentenced March 9.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, each man pleaded guilty to the felonious-assault charges and the criminal gang specifications. The firearm specifications were dropped.
Jennifer McLaughlin, an assistant county prosecutor, said the significance of the gang specifications is that the men will receive more time in prison. The specification can add an additional one, two or three years to each man’s sentence.
Prosecutors have recommended five-year prison terms for Johnson and Kerns. The recommendation for Callier is a seven-year term for all charges against him.
According to Vindicator files, Sherrick Jackson, 20, of East Judson Avenue, was shot in the neck while in the front yard of an East Judson home. John Mitchell, 27, no address given, was shot in his left leg while in a sport-utility vehicle in the driveway of the same address. Both men survived their injuries.
A woman who lives at the house told officers the shooting is gang-related, reports said.
Several shots were fired at the house from two vehicles. When officers arrived, they found a maroon 1998 Buick in the street with all four doors open and keys in the ignition.
The woman told officers the other vehicle, a red Pontiac Bonneville, fled the area, and the occupants of the Buick fled on foot.
While officers were at the site, Kerns was approached by about 20 people from East Judson who were calling him one of the shooters.
Kerns at that time told officers that a man known to him as “Q” asked him for a ride and then directed Kerns to East Judson. Then “Q” and two other men began shooting at 264 E. Judson, and when people started firing back, Kerns ran from the car.
Officers put Kerns in the car for his safety. Kerns later was questioned by detectives and charged with the shooting. Callier and Johnson were arrested later.