YOUNGSTOWN — Mark C. Clay, 23, of Helena Avenue in Boardman, was sentenced to six to nine years in prison Thursday after pleading guilty to felonious assault and petty theft in a March 24 crowbar assault of a man at the man’s home in Boardman.

Robert Joshua gave a victim impact statement before Judge Anthony Donofrio of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court handed down the sentence.

Joshua said he and Clay had a conversation on the internet about Clay wanting work, and Joshua was seeking help cutting grass or raking leaves. Clay indicated he had done such work at Joshua’s home before with a team of other young men, Joshua said.

He invited Clay to stop by to “reintroduce himself,” which Clay did. They sat in the kitchen and then in the living room, but at some point Clay opened a gym bag and pulled out a bottle of water, then squeezed it and sprayed water in Joshua’s face.

“Whatever it was, it blinded me instantly. It was a chemical solution. I couldn’t see a thing. I said why did you do that to me?” Joshua recalled. “I couldn’t see and the next thing I felt was just such a striking blow to the top of my head. I played high school football, had some car accidents. Never, ever in my life felt something like a crow bar striking my skull. It knocked me into oblivion. I was going down immediately.”

Then Clay struck Joshua a second time.

“The second blow was on the back of my head, so he continued to bash me as I was already going down,” he said. “When I hit the floor, I thought it hit me twice, he’s probably going to come back and finish me off.

“I really thought the third blow was going to take my life. Somehow I deflected that third blow and got ahold of the crow bar. With all of my might I grabbed it from him, a strong wiry guy half my age. I started swinging just blindly around me, pushing him away from me.”

Joshua said he heard the sound of vehicle keys in the kitchen, which Clay took as he left the house. But Clay did not take any vehicles. Joshua looked at himself in the mirror and then called 911.

“I was a gushing mess of red blood pouring down my face and neck and eyes.”

Joshua said he could withstand the injuries better than an unexpected “collateral damage” of the assault that was “no fault of the police.”

When searching the house while Joshua was at the hospital, officers left closets and other types of doors open. Joshua’s two dogs went into the attic, ate rodent killer and died.

“The worst part of this is my two dogs died. These scars I don’t care about,” Joshua said pointing to his head. He said he believes he suffered some nerve damage in the assault.

He said he hoped Clay could get the “counseling he needs, the maximum sentence he deserves.”

Police found a backpack in the home that contained a document from Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Adult Probation for Mark C. Clay Jr., who was 22 at the time.

When Clay was given the chance to talk, he said he “made a terrible mistake that night going to that man’s house.” Donofrio asked Clay if he had planned to commit a robbery, and Clay said no. “I just did it.”

But Donofrio mentioned the “solution” in the bottle and a crow bar. “That’s a pretty vicious attack. I’m almost surprised they didn’t charge you with attempted murder,” the judge said.

Clay said he “got scared, just reacted,” adding, “I didn’t think I was going to be able to walk away or get out of the house.”

Donofrio ordered Clay to spend 180 days in the Mahoning County jail on the petty theft, which related to the theft of the keys, but ordered that sentence to be served at the same time as the prison sentence. Clay gets credit for 97 days in the Mahoning County jail awaiting trial.

Marty Hume, assistant county prosecutor, provided the judge with photos of the victim’s injuries. “As you can see, these are horrendous injuries that were caused by a crow bar,” Hume said.

Also given to the judge was an image depicting a “substance that was used to incapacitate the victim,” Hume said, and a text message from Clay asking Joshua “not to press charges and suggesting that he would make false allegations against the victim if he didn’t do so.”

Hume told the judge “This was one of the more vicious attacks I have seen.”

Hume also noted that Clay was charged with new offenses while he was free on bond in this case.

Later in the afternoon Thursday, Clay went into the courtroom of Judge John Durkin of common pleas court and pleaded guilty to having weapons while not allowed and improper handling of firearms in a motor vehicle and was sentenced to two years in prison to be served at the same time as the felonious assault.

That case involved a traffic stop Nov. 9, 2023, in Youngstown during which officers found a handgun under the seat where Clay was sitting.