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YOUNGSTOWN -- A Mahoning County judge found a Warren woman guilty Tuesday of two of five charges for her part in a March 31 drive-by shooting on East Avondale Avenue in Youngstown that wounded a 13-year-old girl in the leg.
Jana Cox, 25, 474 York Ave., Warren, was found not guilty by Common Pleas Judge John Durkin of felonious assault and complicity to improperly discharging a firearm into a habitation and complicity to discharging a firearm near a prohibited premises.
Durkin, however, convicted Cox of two felonies -- third-degree obstructing justice and fourth-degree improperly handling a firearm in a motor vehicle. Cox, who was in custody, could face up to four and a half years in prison.
A sentencing date has not been set by Durkin.
The highlight of the two-day bench trial was the testimony Tuesday of Kasean R. Wilkerson, 16, who admitted to both shooting at the East Avondale Avenue home and having a sexual relationship with Cox.
Wilkerson, of Niles, had pleaded "true" Monday before Judge Theresa Dellick of Mahoning County Juvenile Court to charges of felonious assault and discharging a firearm at or into a habitation, school or safety zone. Both charges carried five-year specifications because of a drive-by shooting and three-year gun specifications. Wilkerson admitted that he had pleaded to the charges in exchange for testifying against Cox and another co-defendant, Xavier Hile, 16, of Youngstown, who Wilkerson said was driving the car at the time of the shooting. Hile is scheduled for a hearing Monday in juvenile court.
Wilkerson said he shot into the habitation 12 or 13 times. He said the three were driving to Youngstown the night of March 30 to return a moped to a friend. After dropping off the vehicle, Wilkerson said they rode around South Side neighborhoods.
Wilkerson admitted to being a victim of a drive-by shooting a year ago. He told Hile to "circle around the block" when he said he saw the car parked on East Avondale that was the vehicle involved in his drive-by.
He told defense attorney Mark Lavelle he shot into the house, but didn't tell Cox what he was planning to do. Earlier on the stand, Wilkerson admitted that Cox had bought the Glock .40-caliber handgun and they were driving in Cox's white Chevrolet Trailblazer SUV.
In closing, assistant Prosecutor Nick Brevetta said that without Cox, the shooting doesn't take place.
"The juveniles wouldn't have walked from Niles and she put the gun into his hands," Brevetta said. "Her actions definitely speak louder than her words, or lack thereof."
In earlier testimony, police detective Sgt. Anthony Vitullo said Cox gave little information after the shooting, other than she was wearing headphones and didn't know what was going on.
An audio of jail calls, however, showed Cox telling someone to "go big or go home."
Prosecutors also said Cox was the one giving instructions to Hile on how to avoid police after the shooting. A police officer spotted the Trailblazer at a stop sign and stopped the vehicle as it attempted to get onto Interstate 680 at South Avenue.
Officers found a loaded handgun under the driver's seat and two more shell casings outside of the car.
Earlier in the trial, the judge heard testimony from Frances Robles, aunt of the shooting victim and one of two victims inside the East Avondale home at the time of the shooting. Robles told the judge she was upstairs playing games on her cellphone when she heard "a loud boom."
She said she went downstairs to find her 13-year-old niece complaining about her leg. When she turned on the light, she found "a bullet hole in her leg."
"I screamed and everybody got up," she said.
She said she found bullet holes and broken windows throughout the first floor, including a bullet that landed in a kitchen freezer, striking the ice cream.
gvogrin@tribtoday.com