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Prosecution plays videos in Winona homicide sentencing
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Judge Lou D’Apolito said he agreed the conduct of two men before him to be sentenced for their roles in the death of 17-year-old Shawn Cortez during a disturbance on the South Side was “horrible.”
But he rejected prosecution pleas in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for sentences up to eight years, saying he thinks those who had guns during the Aug. 17, 2014, fight that led to the death of Cortez on Winona Drive should be held to a higher standard of accountability.
“The gun, the weapon, is the central part of why someone died,” Judge D’Apolito said before sentencing Dequann Fleeton, 21, of Mohawk Avenue to 51/2 years in prison and Rontrell White, 26, of Victor Avenue to 41/2 years in prison.
Both pleaded no contest and were found guilty on charges of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated riot for the death of Cortez. Thirteen others were indicted and have pleaded guilty for their roles in the death of Cortez, who was killed as two groups of people argued in the street as part of a prearranged fight.
Brothers Dejon Jenkins, 19, and David Jenkins, 18, originally were charged with murder for the death of Cortez, but both pleaded guilty to the same charges. Prosecutors said David Jenkins fired the shot that killed Cortez, and his brother gave him the gun. The brothers have yet to be sentenced.
For the first time Wednesday, Assistant Prosecutor Martin Desmond said the reason for the fight was that Cortez and the Jenkins brothers liked the same girl. The night before he was killed, the Jenkins brothers jumped Cortez at a party and beat him up, then challenged him online to a fight. The brothers and their supporters then came to Winona Drive. Cortez was with a group that included Fleeton and White.
Desmond also played two cellphone videos of the crime by women who were there who also were charged and sentenced for their roles in the disturbance.
The videos show a crowd of people walking down the street, shouting insults, strutting and swearing at each other, but does not depict any punches being thrown. Several adults also are seen in the crowd.
All seems well as the Jenkins group is seen leaving the street then they are ushered back, shots are fired, and there is screaming and swearing and Cortez can be seen clutching his stomach on a lawn before collapsing.
Desmond said Fleeton and White both deserved sentences ranging from six to eight years because they were in the street after the Jenkins group was leaving and provoked them to come back.
“These two defendants are at the front of the pack,” Desmond said.
Defense attorneys James Melone for Fleeton and Doug Taylor for White both said the sentences Desmond was asking for were too high. Both said their clients never had a gun and did not know a fight was going to take place.
White told the judge he put Cortez in his car and drove him to the hospital.
“I’m sorry for little Shawn dying, but I tried to help him,” White said.
Fleeton, who wept the entire time he was standing in front of the judge, admitted he yelled at the group when they were leaving because he was trying to scare them away for good. He also said he was very angry and said, “When I get mad, I black out.”
“I thought I was doing the right thing, but my actions were overly aggressive,” Fleeton said. The judge said the one thing in common was the fact that a gun in that situation was just asking for trouble.
“The common theme is that too many people who shouldn’t have guns have guns,” Judge D’Apolito said. “And when somebody fires a gun, someone is going to die.”