Larenz Rhodes, left, stands with his attorney, Frank Cassese, while being sentenced Friday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. Rhodes received a sentence of 30 years to life for killing Crystal Hernandez, a young mother, in her McBride Street apartment in 2019 and shooting at her boyfriend earlier the same day. At right is deputy Brian Tyre.

YOUNGSTOWN — Judge Anthony Donofrio said he doesn’t think Larenz Rhodes “had much of a chance in life with a seventh-grade education, no family guidance, no parental guidance.”

That backdrop “culminated in” Rhodes and others shooting into the East Side home of Crystal Hernandez, 23, on Jan. 24, 2019, killing her while trying to take revenge against her boyfriend, Gabriel Smith, now 20, the judge said.

The judge sentenced Rhodes to 30 years to life in prison.

“Mr. Rhodes you senselessly murdered a beautiful young woman — who was protecting the life of her toddler — over some petty grudge,” the judge said. “She happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and was an innocent victim to this crime.”

Donofrio said Rhodes’ actions “tragically affected the course” of the little boy’s life and “destroyed” the lives of at least nine young men involved in the Hernandez shooting and two other incidents that day. “Countless family members … are left to grieve,” Donofrio said.

“How can any of us in Youngstown feel safe when we see this total disregard for life and the consequences that follow from these random shootings?” he asked.

“The evidence showed that you actually fired the bullet that killed her, although there were others around that participated in this crime,” Donofrio said.

When Donofrio asked Rhodes if he had anything to say before sentencing, Rhodes declined. His attorney, Frank Cassese, insinuated that Rhodes was not going to speak because of the likelihood of an appeal being filed.

Assistant Prosecutor Kevin Trapp asked for the 30-years-to-life sentence for Rhodes, saying it will protect the public “and honor the life of Crystal Hernandez.”

Nivea Ramos, mother of Crystal Hernandez, told Donofrio that her daughter is “now resting, and (Rhodes’ sentence) will bring closure.”

THE CRIME

Rhodes, now 20, was convicted at trial of the murder of Hernandez, conspiracy and improperly discharging firearms into a habitation.

Hernandez was holding her son, then 2, when Rhodes and five other young men fired weapons into her apartment, hitting her in the neck and head area, killing her. The first police officer to arrive found her dead. Her son was asleep on her chest unharmed.

The young men went to the apartment to get revenge against Smith for an earlier shooting that day that injured Rhodes and co-defendant Martize Daniels, now 20.

But Smith was not home, only Hernandez and their son.

Smith parked Hernandez’s car in the apartment lot when he left. It had been shot up earlier that day. Smith was at another nearby apartment at the time his girlfriend was killed.

The felonious assault and improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle charges relate to an incident that occurred around 1 a.m. that day, when Rhodes and others fired at Smith after following him from the Speed Check gas station on McGuffey Road on the East Side. There was a feud over drugs and money, police said.

Daniels and Smith were charged for their role in the earlier shootings. A ninth man, Lavante Perry, 24, who fired the shotgun that hit Rhodes and Daniels, was later found murdered in his East Side home.

Daniels and two other co-defendants testified in Rhodes’ trial, and three other co-defendants of Rhodes are still awaiting trial.

The trial was the first with a jury in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court since the coronavirus pandemic hit in March. Jurors were spread around the courtroom to provide more distance between them. Clear plastic barriers also were placed around the jurors and the witness stand to provide protection from contracting the virus.