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Man sentenced in 2012 shooting case
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
It was almost all silence as a man was sentenced in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to 22 years in prison Friday for a shooting in 2012 that killed one man and injured another.
Walter Walker, 33, of East Lucius Avenue, had nothing to say before Judge Lou A. D’Apolito imposed the sentence, which was agreed to by defense attorney Tom Zena and assistant prosecutors Rob Andrews and Shawn Burns.
Zena also had nothing to say, and no victims or family members of victims spoke, although they were notified of the hearing and consulted before Walker pleaded guilty Feb. 18 to charges of involuntary manslaughter, aggravated robbery and attempted murder for the March 10, 2012, shooting that killed Damon Hodges, 34, and wounded Dustin Greenwalt, 25, inside a North Lane Avenue home on the East Side.
No representatives of either victim or Greenwalt were in court as the sentence was handed down.
Police said the shooting was drug related. They said Walker went to the home to buy drugs.
Walker was also sentenced on charges of felonious assault and intimidation for an incident with another inmate at the county jail in 2013, but that time will run concurrent to the sentence in the shooting case.
Judge D’Apolito did warn Walker that when he gets out of prison, he had better be a changed man.
“All I can tell you is you did a very bad thing and you paid a price for it,” Judge D’Apolito said. “When you get out of prison you are either going to have to change your lifestyle or you are not going to last for very long.”