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Charges pile up in shootings near YSU
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Jamelle Jackson
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Brandon Carter
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Mark Jones
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Columbus Jones, Jr.
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Demetrius Wright
YOUNGSTOWN
Court proceedings in the Feb. 6 off-campus shootings near Youngstown State University continue with more charges and arraignments of the suspects.
Jamail Johnson, 25, died, and 11 others were wounded in the shootings at a party at an Indiana Avenue home on the North Side frequented by members of Omega Psi Phi fraternity, of which Johnson, a YSU student, was a member.
Jamelle Jackson, 18, of West Boston Avenue, was arraigned Wednesday on charges of obstructing official business in connection with the shootings. He is in Mahoning County jail on a $150,000 bond, but a grand jury handed up additional charges against him.
The grand jury Thursday indicted Jackson on charges of murder, felonious assault and shooting into a habitation. He could face 15 years to life in prison on the murder charge alone.
Brandon Carter, 22, of East Ravenwood Avenue, appeared Thursday before Magistrate Dominic DeLaurentis of common pleas court for arraignment on a felony charge of obstruction of justice in the shootings.
Carter is free on a $75,000 bond and represented by Atty. Jeffrey Limbian. He could face one to five years in prison.
Carter pleaded not guilty and the magistrate continued his bond. The case has been assigned to Judge John M. Durkin. The trial has been set for April 4.
The grand jury Thursday also indicted Mark Jones, 20, of Cambridge Avenue, on murder, shooting into a habitation and felonious-assault charges. He has been in jail since Monday, having surrendered to police accompanied by his lawyer Sam Amendolara.
Jones is the sixth man charged in the shootings, and he is a brother of Columbus Jones Jr., 22, of the same Cambridge Avenue address, who a grand jury indicted last week on charges of murder, firing a gun at or into a habitation, and 11 counts of felonious assault, with firearm specifications. He was arraigned on the charges earlier this week. He remains in jail on a $500,000 bond.
Demetrius Wright, 19, of West Avondale Avenue, was arraigned Wednesday on charges of carrying a concealed weapon. His bond of $100,000 was continued. The grand jury Thursday handed up indictments against Wright on additional charges of tampering with evidence and obstructing justice.
Braylon Rogers, 19, of East Lucius Avenue, initially was charged with aggravated murder and 11 counts of felonious assault. The prosecutor’s office, however, dismissed those charges against him in light of his guilty plea Feb. 14 to a felony charge of illegal possession of a firearm. He will be sentenced at a later date.
Rogers has been released from jail and has promised prosecutors to testify against the others.