YOUNGSTOWN — Several criminal trials in 2023 drew the public’s attention, such as the murder trial of Steve W. Green III, 27, who was convicted of shooting the mother of his child in Austintown parking lot in 2021 and was sentenced to life in prison without any chance of parole.

The killing was shocking. Green shot Ashley Lockhart, 25, on an evening when Lockhart, his ex-girlfriend, and her girlfriend were preparing for a “girls’ night out.” But Green parked his car next to Lockhart’s car and waited for her to come out, then confronted her.

Mahoning County Prosecutor told Judge Anthony D’Apolito prior to sentencing that Green “terrorized Ashley, followed her, threatened her, abused her.” She added that Green “planned and carried out the murder of Ashley for some time.”

DeGenova mentioned that criminal case in her 2023 Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office Annual Report when talking about significant prosecutions in 2023.

Green, of Youngstown, was convicted of aggravated murder, tampering with evidence, rape and extortion. Working on the case were DeGenova and assistant prosecutors Robert Andrews and Caitlyn Andrews.

But while the Green case was well known, DeGenova highlighted one case that few people knew about — the drug trafficking and possession trial of Jerome T. Miller, 38, who was convicted in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court of possessing almost 4 pounds of cocaine and other offenses and was sentenced to 20 to 25 1/2 years in prison last October.

Miller’s charges followed an 18-month investigation in 2021 and 2022 by the Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement Task Force.

Miller, of Youngstown, was convicted of cocaine possession, fentanyl related compound possession, aggravated drug possession, cocaine trafficking and fentanyl related compound trafficking.

This is the third year for the prosecutor’s office annual report, and the reports contain statistics and data showing the trend in criminal prosecutions.

For instance, the number of felony cases the county prosecutor’s office disposed of in 2023 was 1,056, up from the 930 cases in 2022 and 916 in 2021, the final year Paul Gains was the county prosecutor. DeGenova is running this year to earn her own four-year term as county prosecutor.

The number of convictions in 2023 was also higher in 2023 compared with the previous year — 664 in 2023 compared to 629 in 2022 and 577 in 2021. Five people were acquitted during trials in 2023. The number was two in 2022 and two in 2021.

Five of the 29 cases that were dismissed in 2023 were because the defendant died. Four other dismissals were because the defendant was indicted federally.

Eight of the 48 cases dismissed in 2022 were because the defendant died, the data shows. Another seven cases were dismissed because the defendant was indicted federally.

Fourteen of the 70 dismissals in 2021 were because the defendant died. Another 19 cases were dismissed because the defendant was indicted in federal court.