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Trial to begin against 1st defendant in ’11 killing of YSU student at party
YOUNGSTOWN
It has been more than 18 months since Jamail Johnson, a Youngstown State University senior, was gunned down at an off- campus party, but this week the first of several men charged with his murder will go on trial.
A Mahoning County grand jury indicted Columbus Jones Jr., 23, on a murder charge in Johnson’s death as well as 11 counts of felonious assault with firearm specifications on all counts, improperly discharging a gun into a habitation and illegal gun possession.
Prosecutors and defense lawyer Lou DeFabio, representing Jones, said the trial will get under way with individual questioning of potential jurors Wednesday.
Opening statements in the case will begin in the courtroom of Judge John M. Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court as soon as 12 jurors and alternates have been selected.
Jones’ trial had been slated to begin Monday but was postponed so the judge could handle some procedural matters.
Jones, however, was in court facing a room full of potential jurors. He sat quietly next to his attorney as potential jurors told the court about any personal or professional conflicts that might exclude them from serving as a juror.
Judge Durkin, prosecutors and DeFabio are expected to question each potential juror individually Wednesday on any knowledge they may have about the particulars of the case.
It was Feb. 6, 2011 — Super Bowl Sunday — when YSU students and a considerable number of nonstudents attended a party at a house on Indiana Avenue near campus. The party erupted into chaos with gunfire, fighting, screams and many people running for safety.
When the smoke cleared, 11 people attending that party were wounded, and 25-year-old Johnson, a fraternity member who took time to tutor and mentor children, was dead.
Police say Johnson was gunned down while trying to usher a group of partygoers away from the gunfire and out of harm’s way.
Jones also has a motion to suppress evidence pending before the court. He is asking the judge to throw out videotaped statements made to police shortly after Johnson was killed. He said the statements were not voluntarily made.
The other men — Demetrius Wright, 21, of West Avondale Avenue, Jamelle Jackson, 19, of West Boston Avenue, Brandon Carter, 22, of East Ravenwood Avenue, and Mark E. Jones, 20, of Cambridge Avenue — face lesser charges in the shooting and are awaiting trial.
Braylon Rogers, 20, of East Lucius Avenue, has pleaded to a lesser charge of illegal possession of a firearm and has agreed to be a state’s witness. He has not been sentenced.