Sweeney finds man guilty of attempted murder

August 25, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Judge Maureen A. Sweeney has found Dawan Fuller guilty of two counts each of attempted murder and felonious assault with firearm specifications in a Nov. 23 home invasion on the city’s West Side.

The Mahoning County Common Pleas Court judge, who read her verdict Friday after a four-day nonjury trial, will sentence Fuller, 20, and his co-defendant, Sherrick Jackson, 23, both of East Judson Avenue, at a later date.

Jackson had pleaded guilty to the same charges Monday, with the prosecution then recommending a 10-year-prison term for him.

However, that recommendation is now off the table because Jackson testified for Fuller as a defense witness, explained Kevin Trapp, an assistant county prosecutor.

Fuller rejected the same 10-year deal before going on trial.

Police found Robert Shaffer, 29, and his mother, Michelle E. Holmes, 50, on the floor of their Oakwood Avenue residence, suffering multiple gunshot wounds.

Holmes, who was shot in the abdomen and shoulder, still suffers from serious abdominal injuries, Trapp said. Shaffer, who was in a coma for a month after the crime, was shot in the abdomen, hand, and both legs, and a bullet grazed his head.

“It was clear from the nature of the wounds that they intended to leave no witnesses. They wanted to kill them,” Trapp said of the defendants. Police recovered 12 slugs at the shooting scene and discovered several bullet holes in the walls. “It is our contention that both defendants fired guns,” Trapp added.

Trapp said robbery was the motive of Fuller and Jackson, who forced their way into the victims’ home.

Fuller and Jackson, who are jailed without bond pending sentencing, could get up to 25 years in prison.