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Man arrested in fatal YSU fraternity shooting rearrested on weapons charges
VINDICATOR EXCLUSIVE
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A man granted early release from prison for his role in a fatal shooting at a Youngstown State University off-campus fraternity was rearrested this week on weapons charges.
Mark Jones, 26, of East Boston Avenue, was arraigned Wednesday in municipal court before Judge Elizabeth Kobly on a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. She set his bond at $35,000, and he has a preliminary hearing scheduled for June 14.
On July 12 of last year, Jones was granted early release in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on a 15-year prison sentence he received after he pleaded guilty to a count of involuntary manslaughter and 10 counts of felonious assault for a Feb. 6, 2011, shooting that killed Jamail Johnson, 25, and wounded 10 others at a fraternity on Indiana Avenue, off campus from YSU.
Jones passed the gun used to his brother Columbus Jones, who was convicted of Johnson’s murder and the felonious-assault counts following a trial and he was sentenced to 92 years in prison.
When Mark Jones entered his pleas, prosecutors promised not to oppose an early release from prison after he served five years of his sentence provided he behaved himself in prison. Family members of Johnson last July opposed his release. Judge John Durkin granted the release, saying that when he presided over the trials in the case, Mark Jones’ name was not heard frequently.
Jones was arrested after members of the Adult Parole Authority visited his home about 1:50 p.m. Monday. Inside the home they found 28 rounds of 9mm ammunition and 88 rounds of .40-caliber ammunition and two guns. Assistant Prosecutor Jeffrey Moliterno told Judge Kobly that APA members found a handgun and an Uzi in the home.
After the guns and ammunition were found, city police were called, and they took Jones to the Mahoning County jail, where he was arraigned Wednesday via video hookup.
When he was released from prison, Jones was placed on five years’ probation and the balance of his sentence was suspended. Some or all of that sentence can be reimposed.
Court records in common pleas court show a probation violation hearing has not yet been scheduled for Jones.
Testimony in the trials showed that Johnson was killed after gunfire broke out after a fight when someone bumped into another person on the dance floor and Johnson was trying to usher partygoers to safety when he was shot and killed.