YOUNGSTOWN — Starting with the terrible shock of his 4-year-old son, Rowan, being violently killed nearly four years ago, to the police investigation, arrests and too-numerous-to-count court hearings for the three suspects, David Sweeney has faithfully participated in the process with his wife, Bailey.

Rowan was killed and his mother, Alexis Schneider, and three other adults were shot in a home invasion in Struthers early Sept. 21, 2020. Schneider was there with her boyfriend, Yarnell Green, and two friends, one of whom, Andre McCoy Jr., saw an opportunity to rob Green and set it up with Kimonie Bryant, now 27, according to prosecutors.

McCoy, now 24, who was one of the adults who was shot, was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison Wednesday for his role in the robbery, killing and shootings, and Bryant was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years to life for helping set up the robbery and driving Brandon Crump Jr., now 21, to the Struthers home, where Crump, then 17, committed the robbery, killing and shootings, prosecutors say.

Crump will be sentenced at 2 p.m. July 29 before Judge Anthony D’Apolito, who noted Wednesday he is happy for Rowan’s family that the end of the criminal proceedings is finally near.

David and Rowan Sweeney have been the faces of one of the worst area crimes in recent years, with Rowan’s smiling face placed prominently on T-shirts, the phrase “Justice for Rowan” placed on yard signs, and David Sweeney participating in vigils and events related to the effort to build Rowan’s Memorial Park. The fund has $132,000, according to the www.rowansmemorialpark.com website.

“Rowan just absolutely loved playgrounds. He loved interacting with kids and all playing together,” David Sweeney said in a video on the website. “I can’t think of a better way to honor Rowan and to bring the community together.”

David Sweeney made a victim impact statement during the sentencing of McCoy and Bryant. But after the hearing, Sweeney took a minute to talk about the nearly four years since his son died.

“This is what we’ve been waiting for,” he said of the McCoy and Bryant sentences, which were delayed numerous times. “It was a long road to get here, but we got here. All we wanted was for Rowan to get the justice he deserves. I believe it’s happening.”

He added that the convictions and sentencings of McCoy and Bryant “don’t change the fact that (Rowan) is gone, his life is over, their lives are over,” he said of the three defendants. “Everyone loses; no one wins. That’s the sad thing, just so many lives ruined over one, stupid, bad decision.”

The judge mentioned Wednesday some of the issues in the criminal cases that took so many years to resolve — DNA testing in the case that Bryant’s attorneys challenged for months, demanding that their expert witness be permitted to observe the testing procedures to ensure that the results were fair and accurate.

And because the criminal charges involved capital murder specifications that could have resulted in the death penalty for McCoy and Bryant, extra motions were filed by Bryant’s attorneys, as is common, to preserve appeal rights if Bryant would be sentenced to death. McCoy was on the run while Bryant’s attorneys were filing such motions.

McCoy and Bryant entered guilty pleas and were offered life prison sentences that did not include the death penalty. Crump is not eligible for the death penalty because he was a juvenile at the time of the crimes.

More recently, the judge approved an expert witness for Crump so that his attorney, Lou DeFabio, can present evidence at Crump’s sentencing regarding the characteristics of youthful offenders that need to be considered when punishing someone for crimes.

DeFabio said he needed the expert witness at the state’s expense because he is not an expert on matters such as the “chronological age” of the defendant at the time of the offense. DeFabio’s filing said issues to consider are the “hallmark features” of youth, “including intellectual capacity, immaturity, impetuosity, and a failure to appreciate risks and consequences.”

Other issues to be explored were the “family home environment of the defendant at the time of the offenses, the defendant’s inability to control his surroundings, a history of trauma regarding the defendant and his school and special-education history; and the way familial and peer pressures may have impacted the defendant’s conduct,” according to a court filing.

DeFabio and the expert witness have received records from Youngstown City Schools and Mahoning County Children Services that apparently will be discussed during Crump’s sentencing hearing.

Crump was convicted at trial in February on all 16 charges he faced, including the aggravated murder of Rowan, and attempted murder and felonious assault of four adults, following a nearly two-week jury trial. Prosecutors have said Crump faces a sentence of up to 30 years to life in prison with parole eligibility after 25 years.

From the beginning of the case, the public has wondered out loud why anyone, including Crump, would shoot an innocent, sleeping 4-year-old boy.

David Sweeney has similar questions and said Wednesday he still does not have the answer.

“We hear of robberies all the time,” David Sweeney said. “People do it with a gun. What would draw someone’s mind to just shooting and to see a child sleeping and to think to shoot and kill him as well. I will never understand it.”

He noted that Crump’s sentencing will close out the criminal cases, and will be “another big one. It’s our main guy, even though they are all just as guilty.”

Alexis Schneider, Rowan’s mother, gave a victim impact statement Wednesday, saying her “sweet angel was struck by multiple bullets with two fatal gunshot wounds” while he was “asleep in the comfort of his own home in my arms.”

Have an interesting story? Contact Ed Runyan by email at erunyan@vindy.com. Follow us on X, formerly Twitter, @TribToday.