Wednesday, May 21, 2014
YOUNGSTOWN — Judge R. Scott Krichbaum told a man he was sentencing for aggravated vehicular homicide in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court he believed the man’s conduct was reckless but not intentional.
“This is a classic 'You have to be more careful’ case,” Judge Krichbaum said. “If you want to drive fast, you go up to Cedar Point and ride on some of the rides. They go fast.”
The judge sentenced Deone Cray, 20, of Monroe Street in Campbell, on Wednesday to five years’ probation with six months of that to be served in Mahoning County jail for a Sept. 15, 2013, accident on the South Side that killed 31-year-old Delouis Clark III of Youngstown.
Police say speed was a factor in the accident, in which Cray was driving east down East Indianola Avenue near Hunter Street when he lost control and his car struck a building. Clark was a passenger in the car.
Cray pleaded guilty to the charge March 26, but the degree of felony he pleaded guilty to — the charge is a third-degree felony — does not require mandatory prison time.
Nick Brevetta, an assistant county prosecutor, told Judge Krichbaum that he made the recommendation because of issues with blood and urine samples collected by police at the time of the accident.