Leavittsburg man charged with killing cousin gets 45 days in jail on probation violation

By Ed Runyan

runyan@vindy,com

WARREN

The mother of a Parma boy who was shot to death by his cousin May 9 in Leavittsburg said she thinks it’s wrong that the cousin, Thomas Catalde Jr., wasn’t arrested until several days after the shooting.

She, on the other hand, spent Mother’s Day at a Cleveland hospital while doctors evaluated whether her son had any chance of surviving.

“He was just sent home? He was not arrested?” Jackie Felts, the mother of Jesse Hayes, 15, said of Catalde, 28, of Ruth Avenue in Leavittsburg. She was speaking Thursday in the hallway of Warren Municipal Court, where Catalde appeared for a preliminary hearing.

“The next day was Mother’s Day, and I had to say goodbye to my baby,” she said. Hayes, a student at Parma Senior High School, died the day after Mother’s Day, May 11. Catalde was arrested on a warrant charging him with felony reckless homicide May 13.

Judge Terry Ivanchak of Warren Municipal Court on Thursday made sure Catalde will remain for now in the Trumbull County jail.

Judge Ivanchak sentenced Catalde to the next 45 days in the county lockup as his punishment for violating the terms of his probation as a result of the reckless- homicide charge.

Catalde, who cried during parts of the hearing, waived the preliminary hearing, so his case is now bound over to a Trumbull County grand jury, which will decide whether he will be indicted. The grand-jury process can take days or months.

Catalde told police he shot Hayes in the face with a shotgun he had recently purchased because he didn’t know it was loaded and “was just screwing around,” according to Warren Township police.

Catalde told police he had been drinking before the shooting but he was not intoxicated. Hayes was visiting his relatives at the time.

The probation violation is the result of Catalde’s conviction April 10 in Warren Muncipal Court of having physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. He was placed on one year’s probation.

Catalde could get several years if he’s convicted of reckless homicide, but Felts and two other sons who were with her Thursday say Catalde’s actions deserve a long prison term.

Atty. Gary Rich, who represents Catalde, told reporters after the hearing that Catalde’s actions were nothing more than a “tragic accident,” and Catalde “loved him [Hayes] dearly.”