Appeals court upholds convictions in two murder cases

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

In opinions issued Monday, the 7th District Court of Appeals upheld the convictions and sentences of two men serving lengthy prison sentences for murder.

The court upheld convictions for Kyle Patrick, 24, on charges of aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and tampering with evidence for the April 27, 2012, shooting death of Michael Abighanem, 27, of Thalia Street, who was killed in a house on Silliman Street at which he went to sell electronic equipment. Patrick was sentenced to life in prison with parole eligibility after 33 years.

Patrick had originally pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 16 years, but he took his plea back and went to trial in 2017, where he was convicted.

One of Patrick’s arguments was that because he was a juvenile when the crime was committed, he should not be sentenced to life in prison. The appeals court ruled that his sentence meets constitutional muster because he is eligible for parole, even though it is after a lengthy period of time.

The appeals court also upheld the convictions of Michael Austin, 25, who was sentenced in 2016 to life with no parole after he was convicted of three counts of aggravated murder and a count of murder, along with other crimes as part of his role as an enforcer for an East Side drug ring,

Austin’s attorneys said the trial court committed seven errors that should be grounds for his conviction to be overturned, but the appeals court said it found no merit with any of those arguments.