YOUNGSTOWN — The cousin of Michael Abinghanem, who was murdered in 2012 at a home on Youngstown’s West Side, is speaking out regarding the resentencing hearing that will be held soon for her cousin’s killer.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled last month that Judge John Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court must resentence Kyle Patrick, now 26, who was convicted of aggravated murder and other offenses in Abinghanem’s murder.

Abinghanem’s cousin, Danielle Davanzo of Youngstown, is concerned with the possibility that the judge could order a lesser sentence, even though she understands that Patrick has the right to seek a lesser sentence.

Ohio’s top court said Durkin failed to show that he had considered Patrick’s age of 17 at the time of the offense when ordering a sentence of 30 years to life. No resentencing date has yet been set. At the resentencing, the judge could order the same sentence as before or a different one.

“With him saying he was a minor — to me, at 17 years old, he knew exactly what he did,” Davanzo said of Patrick. “He was running the streets like an adult.”

“To me, he was out on the streets playing with guns,” she said. “And my cousin would have given anybody the shirt off of his back.”

Davanzo said she and Abinghanem, who was 27, were only four months apart in age and “were like brother and sister.”

The case took a lot of turns between the 2012 murder and 2017 sentencing. Patrick at first pleaded guilty to murder, then rescinded the plea. His attorney filed an appeal and was successful in getting the plea rescinded.

After Patrick’s trial and sentencing, he unsuccessfully appealed his conviction to the 7th District Court of Appeals, but the Ohio Supreme Court overturned the appeals court in December.

Davanzo said the appeals have been hard on the family.

“Me and my family, we can’t get happy because it seems like every time we take a step forward, Kyle Patrick’s in the news again” with some new development.

“Put yourself in our shoes. My cousin, he is never coming back. And every time we turn the TV on, we have to keep seeing that kid’s face that did it. It’s very hard for this stuff coming back,” she said.

“Never in a million years would I ever think I would be going through this, going on nine years, still,” Davanzo said. “Going on nine years, we never gave up or forgot what happened.”

Court documents state that Patrick shot Abinghanem as the two went up the stairs to the second floor of a home with a game system Abinghanem was selling. A witness said he heard a gunshot just as Abinghanem reached the second floor.

Davanzo said she understands that Patrick has rights, but it is difficult for family members of Abinghanem to learn that Patrick could get a lesser sentence.

“This is very hard for us,” she said.

erunyan@tribtoday.com