YOUNGSTOWN — A judge and prosecutor, along with the fiancee and brother of Youngstown State University football player Darius Shackleford, had no trouble finding fault with what Adrienne Washington Jr. did on Feb. 6, 2021, when he accidentally killed Shackleford in an East Side car crash.

First, there was the fact that Washington, of Hudson Avenue, was being chased by Youngstown police when the crash occurred at the intersection of Oak Street and Himrod Avenue at 11:54 p.m. Also, he fled on foot after the crash, leaving behind Shackleford, 24, a former YSU football player.

Then there’s the fact that while Washington was free on bond seven months later, he fled from police again, this time on the city’s South Side, narrowly avoiding a similar tragedy before stopping his vehicle and fleeing on foot again — and being caught by police.

Even his own attorney called Washington’s actions “egregious.”

But Washington tried to change the way he was perceived by appearing for the first time to have compassion for the victim, saying, “Between sports and education, (Shackleford) was an all-around great man. The pain and grief I have caused this family is immeasurable.”

He also apologized to his own family, saying wished he had “taken time to listen to the warnings. You all tried so hard to keep me from ever being in this position.”

In the end, Judge Anthony Donofrio gave Washington the sentence of eight to 10 1/2 years in prison that Assistant Prosecutor Kevin Trapp had recommended.

FIANCEE SPEAKS

But the most compelling testimony came from Taylor Bell, Shackleford’s fiancee, and Shackelford’s older brother, Dominique.

In a victim impact statement, Bell told Donofrio that the moment she learned Shackleford had been killed, she was staying at the home of a friend during a trip back to Youngstown from Cleveland.

Shackleford had left to get some things at a store — a trip she thought would only take five minutes. Dominique learned of Darius’ death before her, and told Bell.

“I just remember getting up and running toward my friends and repeating ‘No’ over and over again until it turned into screams and my body hit the floor, collapsing into one of his best friends’ arms. A piece of me died with him, a large piece of who I was and never will be again,” she said. “He was the most amazing person I’ve ever known. I never knew love until I met him.”

She said of Washington: “You’ll never know the unimaginable pain I have felt every moment since the night of Feb. 6. I had to see the casket shut on my favorite person in the entire world. I now have to watch my friends get engaged, get married, have kids, move to their dream city with their people, and I am left with …” she said, trailing off. “So now, instead of sleeping in his arms, I sleep holding a blanket with his pictures on it and his clothes that no longer smell like him.”

OLDER BROTHER

Dominique Shackleford told the judge that he knows Washington didn’t kill his brother on purpose, but “he has to pay the price for all of the pain and suffering he has caused me, my family, Taylor, all of Darius’ friends. And I just hope nobody else has to go through this.”

Washington pleaded guilty earlier to involuntary manslaughter and failure to comply with the orders of a police officer. He also pleaded guilty to failure to comply with the order of a police officer and aggravated drug possession in a separate incident Sept. 11, 2021, incident on the South Side.

Shackleford was killed when a Youngstown police officer observed Washington running a red light at Oak Street and Himrod Avenue at 11:54 p.m. The officer was going the opposite direction as Washington. He turned around and activated his lights and siren. Washington fled at high speed a short distance before the crash occurred.

In the second fleeing case, officers observed a Ford Escape driven by Washington on East Lucius Avenue on the South Side failing to activate a turn signal while turning onto Rush Boulevard.

The trooper activated the car’s lights and siren and turned around to make a traffic stop, but Washington accelerated, then failed to stop at an intersection and nearly struck another vehicle. Washington then pulled into a driveway on Palmer Avenue. Washington got out and ran through back yards in the 500 block of Palmer, police said.

The officers chased Washington, who hopped a fence and later ran to the front porch of a home at 605 Roxbury Ave., where another Youngstown officer ordered Washington to the ground and he was apprehended.

Before sentencing, Trapp said Washington took Shackleford’s life “all because Mr. Washington simply wouldn’t pull over for the police officer.”

Trapp said Shackleford “simply went to get some items from a gas station, and a few moments later his life was taken.”

The assistant prosecutor said Washington’s plea agreement took into consideration that Washington took responsibility for his actions by pleading guilty and Washington and didn’t kill Shackleford on purpose. But he called Washington’s action “horrible” and “reckless.”

Trapp said he spoke with Darius Shackleford’s grandfather, Daniel Shackleford, who raised Darius. The grandfather, who could not be at the hearing, hoped the sentencing hearing would allow Washington to “see and feel the pain he caused and hopefully never, ever, ever do this again,” Trapp said.

Washington’s driver’s license will be suspended for five years after he leaves prison. Washington gets credit off of his sentence for 294 days he spent in the Mahoning County jail awaiting sentencing.