YOUNGSTOWN — A Mahoning County jury took about an hour Thursday afternoon to find Traeshaun Turner guilty of three felony counts linked to a Sept. 8, 2020, fatal shooting outside a South Side bar.

After the verdicts were read, Turner, 27, was led from the courtroom in handcuffs back to his Mahoning County jail cell where he has been since the day after the shooting. Common Pleas Judge John Durkin said sentencing will be sometime next week.

The defendant was convicted of murder, attempted murder and felonious assault despite Turner earlier Thursday taking the witness stand and saying he acted in self-defense, returning fire along Cleveland Street less than a block away from the Southern Tavern.

The incident killed 25-year-old Ishmael Bethel and wounded a teenage girl.

In a closing argument, Assistant Prosecutor Kevin Day refuted Turner’s testimony by telling jurors two female witnesses, including the teen victim, had testified Bethel had no gun and two people were shot from behind.

“Traeshuan Turner shot him in the back and acted like a coward,” Day said about the incident — which testimony showed started over a $40 debt. “He shot … from about 10 feet. He had the purpose to kill.”

Day told jurors the testimony from the medical examiner who did the autopsy confirmed the sequence of events that the two females’ testimonies had laid out.

In his closing argument, defense attorney Mark Lavelle took up his client’s story saying forensic evidence showed that 12 spent shells that were found at the scene had been determined to come from two guns.

“The state’s own evidence showed this. Maybe (the spent shells) were sitting there for months, but maybe they were not,” Lavelle told jurors.

Lavelle also questioned the credibility of the state’s two key witnesses, the teenage victim and another 25-year-old woman who had been friends with Bethel. Both had testified that they did not see Bethel with a gun.

During the trial Lavelle, in questioning the various detectives who testified, asked why other witnesses were not found. Police had testified the scene at the shooting was chaotic with a crowd estimated up to 100 people gathered around the victims.

“I guess every other witness was afraid to come forward in fear of retaliation,” Lavelle said.

Durkin said he will decide on whether to convict Turner of the charge of having weapons under restrictions. Prosecutors said they will ask the judge to sentence Turner on the murder and attempted murder charges, which could be up to a 10-year-to-life or life without parole sentence.