Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN — A woman accused of driving the vehicle in a drive-by shooting early Wednesday that wounded a 13-year-old girl has pleaded not guilty to charges.

The girl was hit in her bed in her East Avondale Avenue home.

Jana M. Cox, 25, of York Avenue NW in Warren, was arraigned via video hookup with Youngstown Municipal Court on charges of complicity to felonious assault and complicity to discharging a weapon into a habitation.

Both charges are second-degree felonies that each carry maximum eight-year prison terms.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Cox at 9:45 a.m. April 9 before Magistrate Anthony Sertick, court records show. Cox remains in the Mahoning County jail, pending the posting of a $50,000 bond.

The 13-year-old girl is expected to recover, according to Youngstown police Chief Carl Davis.

Youngstown police said they also arrested two teenagers in connection with the shooting that took place about 2 a.m. Police took them to the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center.

Kasean R. Wilkerson, 16, of East Lucius Avenue, and Xavier Hile, 16, of Buckeye Circle, both had initial hearings Thursday in the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center on charges of felonious assault and discharging a firearm at or into a habitation, school or safety zone. Both charges carry specifications that could add time to their detention if the allegations are found to be true.

Not-true pleas were entered for both boys during their hearings, and both were ordered to remain in juvenile detention. Wilkerson has admitted to being the one who fired the gun, the police report states.

Youngstown police said after being alerted to the shooting, an officer observed a white vehicle matching the description of the vehicle involved leaving the area. That vehicle was traffic stopped at Interstate 680 and South Avenue. The officer was nearby when the shooting took place, Davis said.

The police chief said investigators suspect the people involved are “responsible for numerous shootings in the city.”

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