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Man makes plea bargain in killing; sentencing set for May
YOUNGSTOWN
A 25-year-old Youngs-town man, facing an aggravated murder charge, agreed to a plea of involuntary manslaughter with firearm specifications.
Marcus Rutledge of Brookline Avenue took the plea — with a 13-year maximum sentence — on Monday, the day his trial was to begin in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. The trial had been postponed seven times before Monday.
Rutledge will be sentenced May 4 by Judge James C. Evans.
Police charged Rutledge and Earl Charity III, 25, of Delaware Avenue in Youngstown in the Oct. 4, 2009, death of Darrick M. Hall, 23, of East Marion Avenue.
Hall was shot multiple times while outside during the early hours that day at North Avenue and Arlington Street on the city’s North Side. He was found dead by police in the grass.
Charity has yet to go to trial on the murder charge.
The court first will deal with an aggravated assault case from 2010 — that’s been rescheduled eight times and is set for trial Monday — before his trial in the slaying of Hall. That latter trial has been postponed six times and will be rescheduled a seventh time as it’s also set for Monday.