Jury convicts Dumas of murder, robbery

February 2, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

Dumas

YOUNGSTOWN

An eight-woman, four-man jury convicted Nathaniel Dumas of murder and aggravated robbery with firearm specifications in an attempted robbery that resulted in a fatal police shooting at Galaxy Seafood on Belmont Avenue.

After 61/2 hours of deliberations, the jury rendered its verdict late Wednesday afternoon before Judge James C. Evans of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, who will sentence Dumas at 9:30 a.m. Friday.

Rebecca Doherty, chief of the criminal division in the county prosecutor’s office, said she would seek maximum consecutive sentences totaling 28 years to life in prison.

In 2006, Judge Evans sentenced Dumas to four years in prison on cocaine possession and illegal gun-possession charges.

The prosecution said Dumas, 36, of East Florida Avenue, was the intended getaway driver in the attempted robbery at Galaxy, which he helped plan.

In the April 8, 2011, incident, Youngstown Police Officer Mike Walker, who was working store security, fatally shot the alleged would-be armed robber, Warren V. Wright, 32, of Youngstown.

Dumas was charged with murder because the prosecution said he was Wright’s accomplice in the attempted robbery that resulted in Wright’s death.

“The jury obviously understood the accomplice murder and how Dumas was responsible for the death of Warren Wright, even though he didn’t pull the trigger,” Doherty said. “That is the way the law is written.”

A key prosecution witness in the trial, which began Jan. 24, was co-defendant James Thomas, 51, of Belmont Avenue, who pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery with a firearm specification.

Prosecutors have recommended a low-end six-year prison term for Thomas in exchange for the testimony he gave against Dumas. Doherty said Thomas rang the buzzer to enable Wright to be admitted to the store.

Dumas watched his trial and the rendering of the jury verdict elsewhere in the courthouse by Skype because Judge Evans said he was potentially disruptive.

Defense lawyer Mark Carfolo declined to comment after the verdict.