YOUNGSTOWN — A case that has seen multiple delays since it first opened more than two years ago has ended with a conviction.

Just after 11:30 a.m. Friday, jurors presented their verdicts to Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony Donofrio, finding Stevie Ballard, 23, of Campbell, guilty of felonious assault, having a weapon under disability, discharging a weapon on or near prohibited premises, and carrying a concealed weapon.

The conviction also carries two three-year firearm specifications that will add time to Ballard’s prison sentence.

The charges stem from a Nov. 22, 2021, incident in Austintown, in which Ballard shot at a car driven by Trayshaun Hill. Hill, 22, was not wounded in the shooting and was also charged in the case for driving a stolen vehicle, carrying a concealed weapon and tampering with evidence.

During the trial, a neighbor testified that she had seen Ballard walking up Westminster Avenue shortly before the shooting began.

Sharon Berry told the jury that while Ballard was wearing a mask or hood that covered his face, she recognized his build and the way he walked because she lived across from his girlfriend. Berry said she had paid close attention to Ballard ever since she saw him pull a gun from his waistband and place it in the trunk of his girlfriend’s car.

Berry said that she was walking her dog the day of the shooting and was only 10 to 15 yards away when the shots were fired.

Prosecutors also presented statements from other witnesses who spoke to police after the shooting. One woman said she was “terrified” of Ballard but was certain it was he who fired the shots right in front of her home on Westminster.

The case was bound over from Austintown court to Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in December 2021. In June 2022, Ballard agreed to plead guilty to burglary, felonious assault with a three-year firearm specification and having weapons under disability. The deal would have dismissed all of the charges for which Ballard was convicted Friday, and sent him to prison for eight to nine years. But Ballard withdrew the plea less than a week later and prosecutors began preparing for trial.

Mahoning County Assistant Prosecutor Martin Hume said Friday that the charges to which Ballard initially offered to plead guilty were later dismissed because a witness important to the case could not be located. Those charges could be refiled if the witness is ever found.

The case was put on hold when Ballard was charged with the Jan. 22, 2022, murder of Darrell N. Jackson.

Jackson, 20, was found dead in his car behind an old bank building along Market Street, near Hylda Avenue. Witnesses said a gold Honda, matching the description of Ballard’s girlfriend’s car, pulled up alongside Jackson’s car and opened fire. The Honda fled and Jackson’s car rolled along Market Street before hitting the building.

Jackson’s father testified that he heard a phone conversation between Jackson’s mother and Ballard, during which Ballard said he intended to kill Jackson. Prosecutors also presented evidence that Ballard was in the car at the time of the shooting, although they could not say if he was the shooter or the driver, or both.

In August, a jury acquitted Ballard on charges of murder and aggravated murder, and four firearm specifications. However, Ballard remained in jail while prosecutors resumed work on the Hill case.

Hill pleaded guilty to his charges in November 2022, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. In October, Hill received credit for 172 days served, and Hume said he was released from prison this week.

Ballard will be sentenced at a later date, and he could serve more than 15 years in prison.