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Carla Higgins gets probation on obstruction charge in murder case
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Carla Higgins saw her daughter in the back of a police car – and knew someone had just been shot – when she was screaming at police officers who were trying to find out what happened, she said Thursday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
The 47-year-old Higgins, who was being sentenced on a misdemeanor obstruction of justice charge for her actions after the Aug. 17 shooting death of Shawn Cortez, 17, on Winona Drive, told Judge Lou D’Apolito that her son, Robert Floyd Jr., was murdered, and she was worried for her daughter.
Judge D’Apolito told her that though he understood her concern, her behavior interfered with the police investigation and also put the safety of the officers and the others at risk.
“If a police officer tells you to do something, you do it,” Judge D’Apolito said. “They’re under a lot of pressure. They have to make split-second decisions. They have to protect the lives of the public and themselves.”
Higgins was sentenced to probation, which was recommended by Assistant Prosecutor Martin Desmond, plus the six days she spent in jail after she was indicted by a grand jury on felony charges relating to the death of Cortez. She agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor in March. Desmond said she has no criminal record.
Cortez was killed during a prearranged fight Aug. 17 that was set up by text message and Facebook after a fight the day before between two families. The two groups had been arguing for more than a year.
Cortez was in a home on Winona Drive with other people when the other group came onto the street looking to fight. At first that group left, then was challenged in the street to fight by the group Cortez was in. That group ran after the first group, and several shots were fired, one of which struck Cortez.
The entire sequence was captured on video by two women who also pleaded guilty for their roles in the death of Cortez. A total of 14 people were charged with roles in the brawl. Two of them, brothers Dejon Jenkins, 19, and David Jenkins, 18, have each been charged with murder in Cortez’s death. The Jenkins brothers are the last two defendants and are expected to go on trial later this summer.
Desmond told the judge he understood that Higgins was emotional because she received a phone call telling her what happened and her daughter was there, but he called her actions toward police “deplorable,” saying she was swearing and telling people not to talk.
Her attorney, Ryan Ingram, said Higgins only went to check on her daughter and she had no plans to hinder any kind of investigation.
“She went there with the intent to protect her daughter,” Ingram said.
Higgins’ son was killed in March 2013 at a Lansdowne Boulevard store on the East Side. She said she in no way condones any type of violence because of what happened to her son. She said she lost control of her emotions because she was worried about her daughter, who was being questioned by police.