Jurors take less than two hours to find man guilty of murder

By Joe Gorman

jgorman@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Keith Sims gambled with a jury and lost.

Sims, 27, of Ford Avenue, who was charged with the murder of 23-year-old Shaneice Wells, turned down an offer for a plea bargain last week even after attorneys brought his mother in to try to persuade him to change his mind. A plea bargain could have brought about a shorter sentence.

He opted to go to trial in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, and a jury found him guilty Friday of the Oct. 25, 2014, slaying of Wells outside a home in the 800 block of East Boston Avenue. It took jurors less than two hours over two days to find Sims guilty of murder, felonious assault and a firearm specification before Judge Maureen Sweeney.

Sims faces a mandatory penalty of 18 years to life in prison. A sentencing date has not been set yet.

Prosecutors said Wells, of Maplewood Court, was killed outside the home. Her death came after an argument by a group of women that stemmed from a dispute Sims was having with a man in a detached garage in the backyard over noise. Wells came with a group of women who were recruited by another woman to fight, but prosecutors said she was killed after the argument had ended and was walking away from the home.

Wells was shot in the pelvis and taken first to Akron Children’s Hospital Boardman Campus before being transferred to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, where she died from blood loss.

Sims was stoic as the verdict was read, but a woman who was sitting with his family was in tears. There were hugs and smiles among Wells’ friends and family.

Donald Wells, the father of Shaneice, said the time it took for the case to go to trial has prolonged the grief and pain of his daughter’s death.

“It’s like it’s not real,” Donald Wells said.

Donald Wells said he was happy with the verdict but said he wished Sims could serve more time. In Ohio, someone convicted of murder must serve at least 15 years. The firearm specification Sims was convicted of tacks an additional mandatory three years onto his sentence.