Murder conviction upheld

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A three-judge panel of the 7th District Court of Appeals has unanimously upheld the conviction of Kevin D. Agee Jr. in the Sept. 25, 2010, drive-by shooting that killed a man and wounded his wife on the city’s South Side.

Agee drove the car from which his co-defendant, Aubrey F. Toney, fatally shot Thomas Repchic, and wounded his wife, Jacqueline, both 74, at Southern Boulevard and Philadelphia Avenue.

The shooting occurred after Repchic picked up his wife from her job as a St. Dominic Church secretary.

A jury convicted Agee of murder, attempted murder and felonious assault with gun specifications. A judge sentenced him to 28 years to life in prison.

Toney was sentenced to 29 years to life in prison after he was convicted of murder and felonious assault with gun specifications.

In upholding Agee’s conviction, the appeals panel rejected his arguments his lawyers were ineffective, that his statement to police should not have been introduced into evidence and that he didn’t get due process of law or a fair trial.

“Appellant has failed to offer evidentiary material setting forth sufficient operative facts to demonstrate that his confession was neither knowing, nor voluntary,” the decision said.

Police said the Repchics were shot in a case of mistaken identity because they occupied a car similar to one driven by people with whom Toney had been feuding.

The 62-page decision was written by Judge Cheryl L. Waite, with Judges Gene Donofrio and Mary DeGenaro concurring.