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Woman pleads guilty in March ’18 shooting death
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A woman accused of the March 2018 shooting death of a man in a South Side home will spend eight years in prison after pleading guilty Monday to a charge of voluntary manslaughter.
Judge Maureen Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court sentenced Shayla Adams, 28, of Idlewood Avenue, for the March 25, 2018, death of Richard Banton, who was found by police about 3:30 a.m. in a home in the 2700 block of Hudson Avenue.
The plea and sentence were agreed upon by defense attorney Rhys Cartwright-Jones and Assistant Prosecutor Mike Yacovone.
The case was assigned to Judge Anthony Donofrio, but he was busy with jury selection for an upcoming trial, so Judge Sweeney heard the plea and administered the sentence.
Yacovone said the plea was good for both sides because both sides had risks going to trial. Adams was originally charged with murder.
Cartwright-Jones said his client was just coming to recognize the seriousness of the abuse she had undergone in her past when Banton was killed. He said Banton was killed under a set of “unusual circumstances.”
Yacovone said the case was complicated for him because Adams would have claimed she shot Banton because she was raped, so she had a legitimate self-defense claim.
Also, under the plea agreement, $3,000 from Adams was set aside for use by Banton’s son. Banton’s mother, who lives out of town, also approved of the plea agreement, Yacovone said.
Adams said she takes responsibility for the crime.
“I’m willing to do my time,” Adams said.
She also received credit for 185 days in the county jail while awaiting the outcome of her case.