The Ohio Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of a Youngstown man serving life in prison without parole for a 2009 double suffocation murder.

Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor issued a Wednesday judgment entry denying the request by Lorenza Barnette to appeal his conviction. Barnette is serving his sentence in the Marion Correctional Institution.

Barnette defended himself in legal filings with the court. The court denied his request to obtain legal counsel.

In Barnette’s filings, he claimed “the trial court’s sentence was unlawful.” He alleged his indictment was deficient, the grand jury proceedings were irregular, and made accusations of prosecutorial misconduct and that the evidence was insufficient.

Barnette, now 40, was convicted in October 2011 of aggravated murder, kidnapping and arson in the August 2009 deaths of 20-year-old Jaron L. Roland and 19-year-old Dary B. Woods-Burt Jr., who were cousins, on Fairgreen Avenue on the city’s North Side.

The victims, who were from Youngstown, were found dead in a burning car by the Mahoning River off West Avenue, their heads encased in plastic bags and duct tape.

Barnette filed a civil rights federal lawsuit in February 2021 against two Youngstown police officers, a judge and assistant Mahoning County prosecutor. A judge dismissed that lawsuit in October 2021.

Two other Youngstown men were convicted in the double murder when they took plea deals in February 2013.

Joseph Moreland, now 40, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for two counts each of conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping and one count each of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated robbery along with four counts of drug possession, among other convictions. Moreland also pleaded guilty at the time to the murder of Brian Greer of Youngstown, who was killed in March 2010.

Moreland is in the Belmont Correctional Institution with an expected release date / parole eligibility date of Feb. 16, 2027, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

Kenneth Moncrief, now 38, pleaded guilty to two counts of murder, two counts of aggravated robbery and one count of arson. He was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison and is serving that sentence in Marion.

His first parole hearing will take place in September 2025.

During Barnette’s trial, there were implications the double murder was carried out by Barnette and Moncrief on orders from Moreland.

dskolnick@vindy.com