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Women sentenced in bracelet brawl
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A $5 bracelet cost two women 18 months each in prison.
Letisha Gray, 34, and Thelma Banks, 57, were each sentenced Wednesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court by Judge R. Scott Krichbaum after they pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated assault for their roles in a June brawl during a birthday party at the Gutknecht Towers where a woman was slashed several times and hit with a tire iron.
They were originally charged with felonious assault, which carries a maximum penalty of eight years, but the charges were downgraded after consultations with the victim, who is related to both defendants.
Assistant Prosecutor Michael Rich, however, asked for the maximum sentence, which is 18 months.
The victim was attacked at a birthday party for a relative. Police reports at the time said between 20 and 30 people were fighting and most appeared to be drunk. At least five officers were covered in blood when the fight was over.
In court Wednesday, the victim said there had been some bad blood among family members, but she went to the party because she had cooked a lot of food for it. She said the fight started over a $5 bracelet that someone had, which Judge Krichbaum said he was fascinated by.
“It’s hard to imagine someone would risk not only their freedom but their life, or someone else’s life, over a $5 bracelet,” Judge Krichbaum said. “I’m not going to have anybody knifing or cutting someone over a bracelet.”
The victim received lacerations all over her body, and she was unconscious until she was discharged from the hospital, Rich said.
Ed Hartwig, Banks’ lawyer, told the judge his client accepts responsibility but she has a minimal criminal record and is a wife and grandmother, which he said is important because it shows the kind of person she is, and that the brawl was an aberration.
But Judge Krichbaum asked Banks where she got the knife or instrument used to cut the victim. Banks told him there were a lot of people fighting and they had knives, and she got one from someone who dropped a knife. Banks was also trying to protect her daughter who was fighting, Hartwig said.
Banks said she was upset about the victim’s injuries.
“I’m very hurt that this happened. I never expected this to happen,” Banks said.
Ross Douglas, representing Gray, also said his client has a minimal criminal record.
“This is something that is completely out of character for this defendant,” Douglas said.
Gray also apologized.
“I want to own up to what happened,” Gray said.
Judge Krichbaum also asked about the fate of the bracelet that was the root of the brawl. Nobody knew where it was or what happened to it.