Jelks guilty of weapon charges; not guilty of involuntary manslaughter

WARREN — A jury has found Regan Jelks guilty of two weapons offenses but found her not guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

She could get up to 18 months in prison when she is sentenced later.

Jelks, 22, of Warren and Detroit, was a passenger in the car driven by her boyfriend of two years, Taemarr Walker, 24, who was shot to death by a Warren police officer after Walker refused to obey commands and had grabbed a handgun from under the front seat of the car.

Prosecutors charged Jelks with improperly carrying firearms in a motor vehicle on the grounds that she admitted to knowing that Walker had gotten into her car Oct. 19, 2013, with a handgun that he then placed under the front seat of her car.

Ohio law says a person who doesn’t have a concealed-carry license cannot carry a handgun in a manner where it is accessible to anyone in the car without leaving the vehicle.

An unloaded firearm inside the vehicle is allowed only if it is a closed package, box or case. There are certain other exceptions for firearms “in plain sight with the action open or the firearm .. stripped.”