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Man gets 13 years for Cohasset Drive homicide
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A previous felony bans Sir Wolfgang Green from not only owning a gun but even being around one.
A judge who sentenced him Thursday to 13 years in prison on involuntary manslaughter and weapons charges for the death of a 16-year-old last September said if Green had obeyed that restriction, there would have been no need for a court hearing.
“We wouldn’t be here this morning if you didn’t put yourself in that position, even accidentally,” Judge John Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court told the 22-year-old Green.
Green pleaded guilty last week to the Sept. 16, 2015, shooting death of Devon Bailey, 16, inside a home in the 500 block of Cohasset Drive. Prosecutors said Bailey and Green were playing around with a gun when the gun went off, killing Bailey.
Bailey’s mother was present in court but did not make a statement.
Prosecutors had recommended a sentence of 13 years on charges of involuntary manslaughter with a firearm specification and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Judge Durkin upheld that recommendation.
Green has a previous conviction in 2013 for being a felon in possession of a firearm for which he served a prison sentence.
Green’s attorney, Ross Smith, said the shooting was an accident and that his client is “unbelievably remorseful.” Smith said the two had known each other for years and that they referred to each other as brothers. He asked for a sentence of seven years.
“This was a situation that was truly an accident,” Smith said.
Green apologized to Bailey’s mother and said he hopes to take advantage of his time in prison to become a better person.
“I’m taking full responsibility for my actions, and I’ll do what I have to do to better myself in the future,” Green said.
Judge Durkin said he did believe the shooting was an accident, but he added that Green needed to obey the ban on firearms.
“I think this resolution is a just one,” Judge Durkin said.