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Jury convicts man in murder and robbery
By Peter H. MILLIKEN
YOUNGSTOWN
After achieving a conviction on aggravated murder and aggravated robbery charges in the jury trial of Lamar Reese, an assistant Mahoning County prosecutor said he will likely urge the judge to sentence Reese to life in prison without parole.
The assistant prosecutor, Martin P. Desmond, said Judge Maureen A. Sweeney’s options are to sentence Reese to 20, 25 or 30 years to life in prison or to life in prison without parole in the murder of 17-year-old Josh Davis during a marijuana deal.
On the aggravated robbery charge, the available sentencing range is three to 10 years in prison under the sentencing law that was in effect when the crimes were committed Sept. 16, 2011.
A mandatory gun specification will add three-consecutive years to any sentence the county common pleas court judge imposes.
The jury rendered its verdict Monday afternoon after three hours of deliberations.
Davis was fatally shot on a Willis Avenue front porch.
The trial of Frankie Hudson, 21, of Falls Avenue on the same charges in this incident is scheduled to begin June 23.
Desmond said both Reese, 21, of Worthington Street, and Hudson shot Davis, who was hit four times by gunfire — once in the leg, once in the groin, once in the left shoulder and once in the left cheek.
Hudson fired a .40-caliber handgun and Reese a 9 mm mini assault rifle, Desmond said.
Davis was hit with bullets from both guns, and a shell casing from each gun was found at the scene, he added.
Desmond commended Detective Sgt. Ron Rodway of the city police department for his persistence in investigating this case over two years.
When members of the H-Block criminal gang, named for its Hilton Avenue base of operations, were indicted in 2012, the investigation of this murder case progressed as gang members began to discuss it with police, Desmond said.
Hudson is also charged with aggravated murder in the Dec. 14, 2010, slaying of 44-year-old Christopher Weston at an Overland Avenue store where Weston was filling in for the owner.
Reese is not charged in Weston’s death.