Appeals court rejects appeal in killing of 15-year-old girl
Trending
YOUNGSTOWN -- The 7th District Court of Appeals has rejected the argument of a man sentenced to a long prison term for his role in the death of 15-year-old Amya Monserrat that he did not fully understand the consequences of his guilty plea.
Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony D'Apolito sentenced Saun Peterson, to 20 to 26 1/2 years in prison in April in the April 15, 2023, shooting death of Amya outside Martha's Boulevard Tavern on Southern Boulevard.
Amya was outside the business, having attended a birthday party for another teen, when gunshots were fired from the parking lot and from a car Peterson was driving. Amya was hit with a gunshot that almost immediately caused her death.
Peterson, now 24, gave a sworn statement as part of his 2023 plea agreement, stating that Danyo Sellers, his front-seat passenger, fired a shot over the top of the car in the direction of the tavern and its parking lot the night Amya was killed.
But when Peterson took the stand during Sellers' trial, he only made a few remarks and then refused to testify regarding Sellers' involvement in the case. Sellers was found not guilty, and Peterson later tried to rescind his guilty plea and plea agreement, but D'Apolito refused to allow that. Prosecutors were allowed to argue for a higher sentence for Peterson because of his failure to live up to the terms of his plea agreement.
The appeals court ruling states that Peterson appealed his convictions for involuntary manslaughter, felonious assault, improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle and obstructing justice and a gun specification and his sentence on the grounds that his plea was "not made knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily because (D'Apolito) did not fully explain the effect of his plea."
Peterson argued that he was not told that his plea constituted a "complete admission of guilt as required" by Ohio law.
But the ruling states that "the record reflects that (D'Apolito) substantially complied with" a criminal rule "in explaining the significance of a guilty plea, and there is no reversible error."
Peterson contended that D'Apolito "did not explain that he would still be bound by the plea even if he failed to testify against his co-defendant." The ruling notes that Peterson promised to testify in exchange for prosecutors recommending that Peterson get 10 to 12 1/2 years in prison. "The record is clear that his promise to testify was only linked to the recommended sentence and not to any withdrawal or invalidation of the guilty plea," the ruling states.
The appeals court also rejected Peterson's argument that D'Apolito should have allowed Peterson’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea.
Sellers, 19, was acquitted of murder and three other charges in the case March 5 and was released from the Mahoning County jail after spending almost three years locked up in the case. He was 16 at the time of the shooting. Peterson was 20 at the time.
Jurors said after their verdict they were not convinced that Sellers was the person who fired the gun over the car and into the tavern parking lot.
In September, Sellers was indicted on aggravated murder and other offenses in the July 23, shooting death of Maliek Venson, 21, in Columbus.