11-05-2025
3 Canton teens facing murder charges tied to gang-related fatal drive-by shooting
CANTON ‒ Three teens accused of killing Bryson O. Barksdale Sr. in a drive-by shooting have been indicted on multiple charges in connection with the April 2023 incident.
Tracian L. Jones, 19, Jerry Dotson III, 19, and Paul G. Johnson, 18, are charged with aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, improperly discharging a firearm into a habitation and other charges and specifications.
The Canton men were minors when Barksdale, 35, was shot inside a house on Otto Place NE.
Canton police Detective Scott Jones testified during a February hearing in Stark County Family Court that the three teens were believed to be associated with a gang, and the home where Barksdale was shot was affiliated with a rival gang member. A dispute on social media was highlighted as a potential motive.
Jones said the victim, however, was not believed to be affiliated with either gang, and was more likely in "the wrong place at the wrong time."
Following the hearing, Family County Judge Judge Matthew P. Kreitzer ruled the trio should be tried as adults and bound the case over to Stark County Common Pleas Court. Their indictments were contained in a grand jury report dated April 16.
2023 drive-by shooting: Three Canton teens to be tried as adults
All three are facing additional charges of discharge of a firearm on or near prohibited premises and receiving stolen property, Johnson and Jones were charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle. Dotson was charged with having weapons under disability.
All three indictments include specifications that a gun was used in the crimes and that they were committed during criminal gang activity.
Online court records do not indicate that the defendants have attorneys in their common pleas court cases.
Johnson and Jones are being held in the Cuyahoga Hills Juvenile Correctional Facility in the village of Highland Hills in the Cleveland area. Dotson is in the Richland Correctional Institution in Mansfield.
A murder conviction can result in a sentence of 15 years to life in prison.
Canton: Police charge 3 teens with delinquency by reason of murder
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This article originally appeared on The Repository: 3 Canton teens indicted on murder charges for drive-by shooting
