Driver in E. Side slaying reaches plea agreementSFlb

By John W. Goodwin Jr.

Charges of complicity to murder and tampering with evidence were dropped as part of the plea deal.

YOUNGSTOWN — A 25-year-old woman charged in the May shooting death of an East Side man has reached a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Tasha Martinez, of Bruce Street, pleaded guilty Thursday to failure to comply with police and obstructing justice, both felonies. Under the agreement, felony charges of complicity to murder and tampering with evidence have been dropped.

A sentencing recommendation of four years by the prosecutor’s office is included in the agreement. She will be sentenced at a later date by Judge James C. Evans of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Martinez was indicted with a co-defendant, 18-year-old Travis Donaldson of Truesdale Avenue, who still faces charges of murder, complicity to murder and failure to comply with the order of a police officer. He is set for a jury trial in early November before Judge Evans.

Police say Donaldson gunned down Hylen Cash, 21, of Sunshine Avenue, on the East Side during a dispute May 23. Police say Donaldson then got into a car driven by Martinez and fled the area of the shooting. Cash was shot on Ayers Street.

Police arrested Donaldson and Martinez a short time later on South Avenue.

Donaldson and Martinez were free on bond from earlier crimes at the time of the shooting.

City police arrested Martinez in the city for possession of heroin, a felony, about two weeks before the shooting May 7. She was arraigned the next day and given a $10,000 bond.

The $10,000 bond was posted, and Martinez was set free while the drug case made its way through the system.

Police charged Donaldson with illegal possession of a weapon, a felony, May 12, two weeks before the shooting. Police pulled over his car at Market Street and Overhill Drive in Boardman and found a loaded handgun in the vehicle.

Martinez also is listed as an “associate person” in Donaldson’s weapon arrest report.

Donaldson was given a bond of $20,000 on the weapons charge. Once the bond had been met, he was released until a future court date.

jgoodwin@vindy.com