YOUNGSTOWN — A woman who testified against her husband in a murder case will be on probation for her alleged role in the death of a Youngstown man in 2016, when she was still a minor.

Ranee Fitzegerald, 25, of Youngstown, pleaded guilty Friday to one count each of involuntary manslaughter and obstruction of justice in the March 2016 shooting death of 22-year-old Omar Croom. Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Maureen Sweeney accepted the terms of a plea agreement reached with county prosecutors and sentenced Fitzgerald to five years of community control.

In exchange for the lenient sentence, Fitzgerald testified against her estranged husband, D’Aundre Turner, in his May trial.

Turner, 26, of Boardman, was acquitted in June. Fitzgerald and Youngstown Police Detective Jessica Shields were the two primary witnesses in the case.

Fitzgerald testified that on May 16, 2016, when she was almost 17, she connected with Croom on the social media app Kik and invited him to meet her at the ESA Apartments on the East Side for the purposes of sex.

She testified that she became nervous when she got into the backseat of Croom’s vehicle and could not see Turner, and Croom became agitated with her. She said she immediately exited the vehicle and started running toward the nearby woods.

She testified that Croom chased her until she shouted “I’m a minor, and I’m going to call the police.” Croom then walked back toward his truck, and that was when Fitzgerald said she heard gunshots.

When prosecutors asked her if she saw who shot Croom, she said it was Turner.

Turner’s defense attorney said in June, after his client’s acquittal, that he believed the jury did not find Fitzgerald credible on the witness stand.

“I think we were able to catch her in multiple lies on the stand,” he said.

Before Sweeney sentenced her, Fitzgerald spoke a couple brief sentences, only one of which was clearly audible.

“I am sorry for a man losing his life,” she said.

OTHER CASES

Sweeney briefly handled two other cases on Friday. She accepted a plea agreement for James Riley, 33, of Youngstown. Riley was arrested June 21 after Youngstown Police executed a search warrant at his West Side home.

He initially was indicted a year ago on first-degree felony counts of possession of a fentanyl-related substance and possession of cocaine. However,Mahoning County Assistant Prosecutor Pat Fening said on Friday that after the test results came back, the weight of the drugs police found did not amount to first-degree charges.

Riley pleaded guilty to a third-degree felony for the fentanyl and a second-degree charge on the cocaine. The second degree felony requires Sweeney to impose prison time. The maximum Riley could receive is eight years. Fening said his sentences for both charges will likely run concurrent. He will be sentenced at a later date.

Sweeney also accepted the guilty plea of Nicholas Anderson, 24, of Struthers, who was charged with assaulting a Poland Village police officer during a traffic stop in July 2023.

Anderson, initially charged with two felony counts of assault, pleaded guilty to first-degree misdemeanor counts, as well as a fifth-degree felony count of obstruction. He also will be sentenced at a later date.