Wright convicted in 2011 shooting, faces possible 59 years

YOUNGSTOWN

A jury in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court took less than two hours Wednesday to convict a man on seven charges related to a 2011 shooting.

Kevin Wright, 28, of Bauker Street, was convicted of five counts of felonious assault and two counts of discharging a firearm into a habitation for a Feb. 1, 2011, shooting. The case was not indicted until 2013.

He faces a possible sentence of at least 59 years in prison. Sentencing will take place before Judge Maureen Sweeney after a presentence investigation is completed.

The victim, Jonathan Simmons, said he was looking for his wife at about 5:30 a.m. when someone fired several shots at his car, in which were four of his children. The children were not injured. The victim claimed he was shot in the thigh and grazed in the face and chest by bullets.

One of the reasons the case took so long to indict was that the man’s wife did not tell police what she saw until about a year later.

Assistant Prosecutor Rob Andrews said the wife did not come forward because she was scared about what would happen to her if she did.

“She knows what happens when people talk,” Andrews said.

Read the defense's response in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.