Latest news with #PleasCourt
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
No prison for pair who left dog chained in garage
CLEVELAND (WJW) – 'This was not neglect. This was torture.' The State asked for the maximum penalty Thursday for a pair who pleaded guilty to cruelty against companion animals, also known as Goddard's Law. Woman in custody after young mother killed in local park Dazia Chuppa and Trevonte Epps had a dog named Duke in their care who was left in a freezing garage without food or water, according to police records. Prosecutors called it 'brutal and intentional torture' of the dog. 'It is a crime that deserves severe punishment,' prosecutors argued. Dazia Chuppa and Trevonte Epps entered guilty pleas during a hearing in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court last month. Massive egg recall hits Ohio Walmart stores The dog was found on Jan. 4 in Euclid. Duke was chained in a garage and had no food or water, police reports state. 'They were just leaving him there to rot away,' the state argued. 2 campers found dead on remote island in Michigan [Attached video: Previous I-Team coverage of the story] Duke was euthanized due to his critical condition after his rescue. 'He starved to death effectively,' prosecutors said. Protesters gathered to show support for Duke. Prosecutors said Chupa blew protesters a kiss on the way into court, 'showing her indifference' to the seriousness of the case, they said. Epps attorney argued that he has no prior criminal history. 'He has said that there was times he would put water in the garage,' his attorney said. 'My client isn't making excuses today,' the attorney continued. 'He accepts responsibility and is remorseful,' the defense argued. 'I would like to apologize,' Epps said in court. Epps' attorney said his client received threats. Chupa's attorney said she also received threats. 'This is a circumstance when education and training would be the best result,' Chupa's attorney said. 'Certainly not prison.' Chupa is 20 and has no criminal record. 'Yeah I'm sorry that everything has happened,' Chupa said. 'I don't want any more animals and I really had nothing to do with this,' she told the judge. 'Community control will adequately protect the public,' the judge said during sentencing. Both Epps and Chupa were given 1.5 years of community control, under the supervision of the adult probation department. They are also prohibited from owning a companion animal 'indefinitely,' and will be on the Cuyahoga County Animal Abuse registry. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Yahoo
Man enters plea in fatal Austintown shooting
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — A person originally charged as a juvenile for their role in a 2023 Austintown shooting death pleaded guilty Wednesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. Read next: Popular Boardman Italian restaurant closing soon Ethan Richmond, 19, entered guilty pleas to charges of voluntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony; and felonious assault, a second-degree felony; along with a firearm specification before Judge Maureen Sweeney. The attorneys in the case are recommending a sentence of 11 to 15 years in prison. Richmond will be sentenced at a later date. Richmond was 17 when he was arrested and charged for the Sept. 6, 2023, shooting death of Vincent Tarver, 22, at the Compass West apartment complex in Austintown. He was originally charged in juvenile court before his case was bound over to a grand jury in common pleas court, and he was indicted as an adult. A woman was wounded in the same shooting. Tarver was shot after a fight in the parking lot. He was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center, where he died from his injuries. The woman who was wounded required surgery A co-defendant, Talim Mumin, 22, was sentenced Jan. 27 by Judge Sweeney to six to seven and a half years in prison after he pleaded guilty to charges of complicity to involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony and complicity to felonious assault, a second-degree felony, along with firearm specifications. Prosecutors say that Richmond was the person who was the shooter. Reports said a witness told police she saw Mumin arguing with Tarver in the parking lot before shots were fired. Witnesses told police there was another male with Mumin who kept lifting up his shirt like he had a gun before shots were fired. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Yahoo
Jurors hear closing arguments in East Side murder case
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — Just because a man was shot in his house does not mean Andre Bailey is complicit in his murder, his attorney told jurors in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court today during closing arguments. Read next: One dead in homicide outside Youngstown event center Andre Bailey, 40, is charged with aggravated murder for the Oct. 17 shooting death of 24-year-old Reynaldo Hernandez. Bailey's attorney, Walter Madison, said Bailey did not plan to shoot Hernandez and that Bailey cleaned up evidence of the shooting afterward — including putting Hernandez in a car and dumping him at a cemetery on the Sharon Line — because he was engaged in criminal activity while out on bond in another case. 'Somebody just got shot in his house and he doesn't want the police in his house because he's engaging in wrongdoing,' Madison said before Visiting Judge W. Wyatt McKay. Assistant Prosecutor John Juhasz said there is plenty of video evidence from a myriad of cameras Bailey had placed around his Bott Street home that show him with a gun, show him chasing Hernandez through his home, show him pitching in with others to clean up blood and other evidence in his home, and show him picking up a bleeding Hernandez from the driveway, placing him in a car and driving away. Hernandez's body was found the next morning at the cemetery and Liberty Road and Wardle Avenue. Jurors were seated Feb. 24 and heard testimony Wednesday and Thursday last week before taking a break Friday. They are expected to begin deliberating after being instructed in the law by Judge McKay. Jurors can't get inside someone's mind, but they can judge a person by their actions, and they can judge Bailey by his actions because it is all on video, Juhasz said. He said Bailey never called police and that someone was shot in Bailey's home and Hernandez lay in the driveway for over 10 minutes and no one called an ambulance or came to help him. Hernandez also suffered a gunshot wound to the back, which would be hard for someone to sustain if they came to the house and pulled a gun on Bailey and the others who were there, Juhasz said. Hernandez was seen entering the house with a bag but police never found a bag, Juhasz said. Madison said prosecutors could not prove Bailey knew Hernandez was going to be shot by others in his house. Two co-defendants had earlier pleaded guilty to tampering and obstruction charges. 'To be complicit, he has to do something more than just be there,' Madison said. Madison began his argument by playing jurors a snippet of the Bob Marley song, 'I Shot The Sheriff,' saying the song is a metaphor for the difference between wrongdoing and guilt. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Yahoo
Women connected to fraudulent dog training business plead guilty to theft charges
Feb. 28—Two women who were charged connected to a scheme involving a fraudulent dog training business that abused and neglected animals have pleaded guilty in agreements filed Friday in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court. Tabatha Taverna, 48, and Jennifer Long, 40, both pleaded no contest to indicted theft charges, according to the Montgomery County Prosecutor's Office. Taverna was charged with three counts of theft, while Long was charged with four counts. Additional charges of cruelty to companion animals, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and theft from an elderly or disabled person were dismissed, the prosecutor's office said. The pair were charged along with Jason Thomas Jones, 45, connected to Dayton Dog Trainer, a business owned and operated by Jones that claimed to provide obedience training for dogs and support animal training. A lengthy investigation by the Miamisburg Police Department found that after owners paid thousands of dollars, the animals were returned untrained, often covered in feces and with obvious signs of neglect and maltreatment, according to Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. The investigation started after Randy Reed of Miamisburg hired Jones to train his two 6-month-old bernedoodles, Emmy and Bailey, at the cost of $4,000. Two weeks into a contracted month of training, Reed said that he found the dogs at Jones' property staked out in a field, filthy with a rash and clear weight loss. He didn't bring the dogs back for a second two-week session and didn't get his money back for the second two weeks. He then took to social media and found a dozen people with similar experiences, then took that information to the Miamisburg Police Department. In all, police found more than 65 dog owners who paid the business more than $200,000. Victims include Melissa McClure of Springfield and her French bulldog Tater, who spent five weeks with the business because the dog had an issue with small children and other dogs. When the dog was returned, McClure said that he was dirty, stank, had hair missing in patches, was noticeably thinner and appeared to have had his teeth filed down. They also include Dale and Mary Beth Kidd of Washington Twp., who left their 2-year-old European German shepherd Nico with the business due to a problem with barking at other dogs. After weeks at the training business, the dog's behavior worsened, and he snapped at the couple's niece. They sent the dog back for more training, and he became even worse, becoming frightened and aggressive and attacking the niece again. Jones pleaded guilty last month to a total of 181 charges, including theft, theft from the elderly/disabled, cruelty to companion animals, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and failure to file state income tax. He is scheduled to be sentenced March 14.
