YOUNGSTOWN — Two of the three men who killed Christopher Jackson Jr., 21, of Warren, were sentenced to life in prison Monday.

The crime happened as Jackson rode in the front seat of a car on Youngstown’s East Side on Nov. 18, 2018, with three Youngstown men in the back seat.

Stephon Hopkins, 25, was sentenced to 35 years to life. Hopkins will serve that in addition to 21 years to life for the June 18, 2018, murder of Brandon Wylie, 31, also on the East Side.

Lorice Moore, 25, received a 32-years-to-life sentence.

Hopkins and Moore were tried together in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court before Judge Anthony D’Apolito and were found guilty of murder, attempted murder and felonious assault. Hopkins also was found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

A third co-defendant, Brian Donlow Jr., 26, was sentenced earlier to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the Jackson murder, and 21 years to life in the Wylie murder.

The attempted murder in the Jackson case was for shooting Carlos Davis III, 25, of Warren, who was the driver.

Hopkins, Moore and Donlow are from Youngstown.

While sentencing Hopkins, D’Apolito said he has known Hopkins for a long time because D’Apolito was a magistrate and court administrator at the Mahoning County Juvenile Court when Hopkins was found guilty of kidnapping as a juvenile.

D’Apolito sent Hopkins to an Ohio Department of Youth Services lockup in 2014 for the the juvenile offense.

“So I’ve known Stephon for many, many years, and I know that there were efforts to rehabilitate him and to lead him down a path that was was not the path he proceeded down,” the judge said.

He said Hopkins has caused harm to “at least two victims’ families that I know of, which is more than a lifetime of grief and pain and of sorrow. Of course, I hoped for better for him all along, but he has shown the court that he has not chosen that route,” D’Apolito said.

Hopkins did not make a statement during the hearing upon the advice of his attorneys.

But Jackson’s grandmother, Barbara Jackson, spoke, saying the lives of her son and his wife “were shattered … like a broken piece of glass you can’t put back together” when Jackson was murdered.

“His sister, brother, aunts, grandmother, we are all shattered, and I’m sure the young men who did this, their mothers are shattered too. But their heart can be mended back because wherever they go, they can go see them. They sit back, laugh and talk. We have to go to the cemetery and talk to him.”

THE CRIME

According to court testimony, Jackson and Davis went to Youngstown the night Jackson was killed to meet up with Hopkins, with whom Jackson had been communicating on Facebook earlier that day.

Davis was directed to drive to the intersection of Bennington and Stewart avenues on the East Side, where “without warning, (Hopkins, Moore and Donlow) pull out guns and open fire,” Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Paris said during opening statements in the trial. Jackson was hit nine times from the back.

Davis got out of the car and fled on foot but was hit twice in the back. He found safety in an enclosed porch, and the resident of the home called 911.

Jackson was dead at the scene. Davis refused to testify at the trial, though he did cooperate with investigators initially.

Detectives found in the back of the car a key that opened the door of Hopkins’ house. They also found DNA belonging to Moore on door handles of the car.

Christopher Jackson Jr.’s sister, Sharonda Jackson, said her brother “grew up in a close family where both parents were present.” She said the morning she learned her brother, “CJ,” had been killed was the worst day of her life.

“He never got to open his gifts and have dinner with his family. From that day on, holidays and birthdays are not the same. A big void is filled with sadness. One sibling is missing,” she said.

She said CJ was “free spirited, kind-hearted, giving, funny, respectful, forgiving, never held any grudges, an honor student and always had a smile on his face,” she said.

After the sentencing, Assistant Prosecutor Mike Yacovone said Hopkins gets credit for three years in jail awaiting trial, but he must serve about 53 years before he could be considered for parole.

He said he hopes the parole board would not parole someone convicted of two murders.

When asked his thoughts on Donlow and Hopkins committing two murders within five months of each other, Yacovone said: “It saddens me tremendously, especially this time of year when I get to be around my family, my friends and now two families for the fourth year do not have their loved one for the holidays.”

Yacovone said not only did they commit two murders five months apart, they are “suspected in more” homicides that same year. “Luckily, twice, we were able to put together enough evidence not only to indict but to convict and get a jury to see our evidence beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Yacovone, who is the assistant prosecutor who presents cases to the county grand jury, said gun crimes have not declined since these two gun-related murders.

“As of right now, I am indicting more gun cases than I am drug cases. I never even thought I would say that.”

Compared to several years ago, “guns are extremely prevalent now. And if you have a gun and don’t know how safety to use it, store it, protect yourself the right way with a concealed carry license, with a legitimate self defense. Too many young men are just resorting to them thinking it’s the way to go.”

Yacovone said he hopes these sentences “show young all of these young men that all it is going to do is land you a life sentence.”