Murder case brings plea to involuntary manslaughter

Murder case brings plea to involuntary manslaughter

YOUNGSTOWN

A Youngstown man could spend the next 13 years behind bars after entering into a plea agreement with prosecutors in connection with a 2011 East Side murder.

Curtis Jones, 19, of Maplewood Avenue, appeared for a pretrial hearing Monday before Judge Lou A. D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. Jones had been charged with murder in connection with the March 2011 shooting death of 16-year-old De’Vail Fleeton of the city’s North Side.

Fleeton was shot and killed while visiting a female friend on the East Side.

Witnesses told police five black men wearing black, hooded sweat shirts and red ball caps chased Fleeton on March 26 from the Plaza View Apartments across Stewart Avenue and McGuffey Road, firing at the teen as he ran. After he fell, the suspects ran back into Plaza View.

Fleeton had been shot once in the back and later died of that gunshot wound.

Jones on Monday entered a plea agreement with prosecutors wherein he pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, a felony of the first degree punishable by up to 10 years in prison. He also pleaded guilty to a gun specification, which carries a mandatory three-year prison term.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, prosecutors will be recommending a 12-year prison sentence.

Jones’ plea does not close the Fleeton murder case. Jones’ co-defendant Devante Gilmore, 18, of Brockway Avenue, is still facing a murder charge related to the shooting.