Jury recommends death sentence in Ohio triple slaying

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

A jury recommended Saturday that a young man be put to death for killing three people and wounding three others last year at a suburban Cleveland barbershop in what authorities described as a gang-related dispute.

Earlier this month, the same jury had convicted Douglas Shine Jr., 21, of aggravated murder and dozens of other charges related to the shootings at Chalk Linez barbershop, in Warrensville Heights, and his role in killing an eyewitness.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Joan Synenberg must now decide whether to impose the death sentence or give Shine life in prison with no chance of parole.

She scheduled formal sentencing for Dec. 5.

Messages left Saturday with Shine’s attorneys were not immediately returned.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said his office respected the jurors’ decision.

During a murder trial that spanned more than two months, prosecutors and witnesses recounted for jurors a story of revenge and cold-blooded violence wrought by Shine and others.

Prosecutors said Shine went to Chalk Linez on Feb. 5 of last year to kill 23-year-old Walter Lee Barfield, a rival gang member who worked at the shop, shooting him 19 times.

He also killed 32-year-old owner William Gonzalez and 31-year-old Brandon White, a customer who went to the shop every Thursday for a haircut and to play video games. Two men and a woman were also struck and wounded that night.