Mark Jones, convicted in murder at YSU frat house, granted early release

YOUNGSTOWN

It might have been hard Tuesday to understand the words Shirlene Hill was speaking to Judge John Durkin as she urged him — through tears — to keep one of the men convicted in her son’s death in prison until his sentence is completed.

But there was no mistaking the pain she felt as she recounted how much the Feb. 6, 2011, murder of her son Jamail Johnson still hurts.

“I thought this nightmare would be over for me for the rest of my life,” Hill said during a judicial release hearing for Mark Jones, 30.

“My heart is hurting. I’ve got a life sentence without Jamail. My heart is dying every day. Every day of my life.”

After a hearing in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, Judge Durkin agreed to a request by Jones to be released early from a 15-year sentence he was serving after he pleaded guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter and 10 counts of felonious assault in the shooting that killed Johnson, 25, and wounded 10 others at a fraternity off the campus of Youngstown State University.

As part of his plea agreement, prosecutors agreed not to oppose a motion for judicial release after five years, provided Jones did not get in trouble in prison.

Read more about the case in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.