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Jury selection starts in West Side murder case
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Jury selection is expected to continue today in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for two people accused of a 2017 homicide on the West Side.
Dashonti Baker, 26 and Barraya Hickson, 26, both of Millet Avenue, are charged with aggravated murder in the June 23, 2017, shooting death of Rae’venna Faircloth-Thomas, who was found shot to death in an SUV on Oneta Street on the West Side.
Hickson turned down a plea agreement that would have the murder charge dropped in exchange of a guilty plea to a charge of obstruction of justice. Prosecutors would have offered her probation.
If convicted of aggravated murder, Hickson could be sentenced to life in prison with no parole.
When asked by Judge Anthony Donofrio why she turned the plea down, she said: “Because I want to go to trial.”
Baker also turned down an offer that would have given him a sentence of 19 years to life in prison. When he was asked why, he said simply: “Not guilty.”
Police said Faircloth-Thomas was killed because of a property dispute and a monetary dispute with her boyfriend.
Shortly after police arrived, the crime scene was deluged by a heavy rainstorm. Officers borrowed a tarp from a neighbor, and police held it over crime scene investigators as they examined the victim and the front seat of the SUV where the victim was found.
Police found a .40-caliber handgun and 9 mm handgun at the scene. Hickson and Baker were arrested a couple of hours after the shooting.