YOUNGSTOWN — A Youngstown youth now faces mandatory time in juvenile prison after being found culpable in the death of a classmate late last year.

Mahoning County Juvenile Court Judge Theresa Dellick issued her judgment Friday in the case of Masiahs Gentry, 14, of East Lucius Avenue. Dellick found him delinquent — the juvenile equivalent of guilty — on a charge of reckless homicide, with a three-year gun specification.

Masiahs was charged with murder in the Nov. 11 shooting death of 14-year-old Logan Taylor at Masiahs’ home. The reckless homicide count is equal to a third-degree felony for an adult.

With the three-year gun specification, Ohio law mandates that Masiahs serve the full three years, on top of additional time Dellick likely will impose. By law, Gentry could remain in an Ohio Department of Youth Services facility until his 21st birthday.

But Mahoning County Juvenile Court Prosecutor Anissa Modarelli said she does not intend to ask for that much time for the boy, and she is satisfied with the judge’s finding of reckless homicide.

“That has been a working theory of this case, we believed it to be an accidental shooting,” she said. “But he just kept saying Logan shot himself, so we didn’t have a choice but to go the way we did.”

Modarelli said that had Masiahs admitted to an accidental shooting, she would have charged it as a reckless homicide and not a murder, though she still would have included the firearms specification. As it stands, she said she will ask for the state minimum of six months in addition to the three-year firearm specification, which would see Masiahs incarcerated for 42 months. She said he has been in Mahoning County juvenile detention for just over 190 days and will receive credit for time served when Dellick hands down his sentence.

Modarelli said she wished the case had been able to proceed differently.

“Detectives gave him opportunities to admit it, but he stuck with his denial,” she said. “When you have a defendant denying all responsibility, it leads you to believe it was purposeful.”

Dellick’s ruling conceded that the boys were “best friends” and the shooting was accidental, but stated that Masiahs’ testimony did not line up with the facts, and his demeanor throughout the trial in July appeared to be dishonest.

His attorney, John Shultz, said in July that body camera video from police on the scene showed Masiahs hysterical, crying earnestly and saying he would never kill his best friend.

Dellick found that his hysterical demeanor was much more likely the result of shock that he had indeed shot his friend.

Gentry’s trial concluded on July 21 after two days, leaving Dellick to review more than 100 pieces of evidence and several witness testimonies.

Dellick’s ruling stated that the forensics undermined Masiahs’ account of how Logan was shot. The boy was shot in the top of his head, and the shell casing was discharged toward Logan’s right side and not his left, which was inconsistent with Masiahs’ claim that Logan was holding the gun in his right hand, above his head, and shot himself at a downward angle.

Masiahs also said he was sitting in a chair next to Logan when the gun discharged and that he never moved anything at the scene. However, the chair was found folded and leaned up against a wall when police arrived.

The evidence also showed that only Masiahs’ DNA was found on the gun, and none of Logan’s.

Dellick’s ruling states that the scene suggests Logan was sitting down, playing a video game and facing the TV, and Masiahs was standing above and behind him, playing with the gun when he unintentionally pulled the trigger, shooting Logan.

Dellick stated in the ruling that she also found Masiahs’ mother’s testimony unreliable.

“Mother’s testimony seemed created to fit the story. Her demeanor was not credible. It appeared calculated to this Court as an attempt to be convincing. This calculation failed to convince the Court.”

Additionally, Dellick found the testimonies of Masiahs’ father and sister extraneous, irrelevant and also not credible.

By contrast, Dellick found Logan’s mother’s testimony very convincing, and seemed to sympathize with the woman, although she found that her testimony did not provide any evidentiary value to the case. She said Logan’s mother lacked firsthand knowledge of anything that occurred in Masiahs’ bedroom that day.

“The credibility of victim (‘s) mother reflected that of a mother who tragically lost her son,” Dellick wrote. “It was evident she regretted letting her son spend the night at (Gentry’s) house. A decision she will never forgive herself for but needs to do so for her benefit and the benefit of her family.”

Modarelli said neither she nor the court’s victim witness coordinator had had a chance to speak with Logan’s family as of Friday afternoon.

“It’s a very tragic situation for both families,” she said. “As prosecutors we want to see justice be done. If I’m not supposed to win a case, I don’t want to win it. I want justice done. I feel like this was the just outcome. I hope they get some comfort from this and some kind of closure.”

Modarelli said Dellick has not yet set a date for sentencing.

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