Mineral Ridge man gets 11 years for accomplice's death during break-in

Staff report

WARREN

Michael S. Burns, 34, of Mineral Ridge will spend 11 years in prison for the July 12 break-in at a house on Niles-Cortland Road in Niles in which an accomplice, Terry Allen, 37 was killed.

Burns received his sentence Tuesday from Judge Andrew Logan of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.

A jury found Burns guilty last month of involuntary manslaughter and attempted aggravated burglary.

Allen died after the homeowner, hearing several people trying to break in, fired a shotgun blast through the front door, hitting Allen in the chest, killing him.

The homeowner was cleared of any wrongdoing.

The case was the first one county officials have prosecuted in many years in which a defendant was held accountable for a co-defendant’s death that resulted from something such as a robbery or burglary.

Now prosecutors expect to have an easier time getting the three remaining defendants to plead guilty for their role in the crime.

Burns, Allen and Scott Crislip, 18, of Niles were the three men who tried to break into the home, which is near U.S. Route 422, according to testimony.

Two women, Mindy Sierra, 32, of Niles, and Allen’s wife, Nichole Allen, of Mineral Ridge, are accused of participating in the break-in but remaining in a van used to drop off Allen, Burns and Crislip. They waited at a nearby coffee shop and planned to pick up Allen, Burns and Crislip after the break-in was complete, according to testimony.

Burns and the three other defendants were all charged with murder, but the jury refused to convict Burns of murder, opting for involuntary manslaughter instead.