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Court upholds convictions of Rowan’s killer

Staff file photo / Ed Runyan Brandon Crump Jr., right, was defended in his 2024 aggravated murder trial by attorney Lou DeFabio. The 7th District Court of Appeals has upheld Crump’s convictions for killing 4-year-old Rowan Sweeney and attempting to kill four adults.

YOUNGSTOWN — The 7th District Court of Appeals has upheld the convictions of Brandon L. Crump Jr., 22, in the Sept. 21, 2020, shooting death of 4 year-old Rowan Sweeney and wounding of four adults in a Struthers home.

The panel found an error that will require Crump, 22, to be resentenced on one of his 14 convictions, but it seems unlikely that it will change the amount of prison time Crump will receive.

The ruling by judges Cheryl Waite, Mark Hanni and Katelyn Dickey addressed a handful of errors defense attorney Rhys Cartwright-Jones raised in the appeal on behalf of Crump, of Youngstown.

Crump was 17 at the time he and co-defendant Kimonie Bryant, now 28, drove to a home in Struthers with a plan to rob a man of about $5,000 in cash. Rowan was on a couch with his mother, Alexis Schneider, at the time Crump entered the home through the front door at 1:51 a.m.

Crump shot all four adults and killed Rowan with multiple gunshots as his mother begged the gunman not to kill her son.

Crump was convicted at trial on all 14 counts, including aggravated murder of Rowan, attempted murder of the adults, aggravated robbery, aggravated robbery and complicity and was sentenced to 52 years to life in prison in July of 2024.

COMMON THREAD

Despite the assertions that Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony D’Apolito made many errors, one common thread ran through much of the ruling: the abundance of evidence that made it evident that Crump was the killer and lone gunman.

Bryant was actually thought to have been the shooter during the initial months of the investigation and prosecution. But that changed when DNA evidence was finally tested and analyzed, resulting in prosecutors moving their focus to Crump.

Crump’s DNA was found on bullet shell casings at the scene, and Bryant was excluded as being a possible contributor to the DNA. Also excluded as having provided any of the DNA was Andre McCoy Jr. of Youngstown, now 25, the third co-defendant, who was in the home at the time of the killing. He was himself shot in the face by the gunman and nearly died. He also was complicit with Bryant in planning the robbery.

The ruling states another critical type of evidence pointing to Crump as the shooter was data associated with the phones of Crump and Bryant. It showed that the phones traveled together from Youngstown to the home in Struthers “immediately prior to the shooting,” the ruling states.

The data also showed that the two phones left there within a minute of the first 911 call about the shootings, the ruling states.

In the arguments from Crump’s attorney, the appeals panel discussed the caselaw showing what must be proved to find an error but also in many cases mentioned the large amount of evidence showing Crump’s guilt as a reason the argument failed.

RESENTENCING

The ruling ordered that Crump be brought back to Mahoning County so that he can be resentenced on a complicity conviction that was related to convictions for aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary.

The appeals panel stated that in such a case, a person should not be sentenced on conspiracy if the person was also sentenced on a charge such as aggravated robbery or aggravated burglary that is associated with the complicity charge, which D’Apolito did. D’Apolito must either “merge or vacate the conspiracy conviction,” the ruling states.

But the ruling notes that the resentencing will “likely have no practical effect on (Crump’s) sentence because (D’Apolito) ran the sentence ordered (at the same time as Crump’s) other sentences. Thus it appears the merger will not affect (Crump’s) sentence in any practical way.”

The resentencing is set for 11 a.m. Sept. 16.

Court upholds convictions of Rowan’s killer

YOUNGSTOWN — The 7th District Court of Appeals has upheld the convictions of Brandon L. Crump Jr., 22, in the Sept. 21, 2020, shooting death of 4 year-old Rowan Sweeney and wounding of four adults in a Struthers home.

The panel found an error that will require Crump, 22, to be resentenced on one of his 14 convictions, but it seems unlikely that it will change the amount of prison time Crump will receive.

The ruling by judges Cheryl Waite, Mark Hanni and Katelyn Dickey addressed a handful of errors defense attorney Rhys Cartwright-Jones raised in the appeal on behalf of Crump, of Youngstown.

Crump was 17 at the time he and co-defendant Kimonie Bryant, now 28, drove to a home in Struthers with a plan to rob a man of about $5,000 in cash. Rowan was on a couch with his mother, Alexis Schneider, at the time Crump entered the home through the front door at 1:51 a.m.

Crump shot all four adults and killed Rowan with multiple gunshots as his mother begged the gunman not to kill her son.

Crump was convicted at trial on all 14 counts, including aggravated murder of Rowan, attempted murder of the adults, aggravated robbery, aggravated robbery and complicity and was sentenced to 52 years to life in prison in July of 2024.

COMMON THREAD

Despite the assertions that Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony D’Apolito made many errors, one common thread ran through much of the ruling: the abundance of evidence that made it evident that Crump was the killer and lone gunman.

Bryant was actually thought to have been the shooter during the initial months of the investigation and prosecution. But that changed when DNA evidence was finally tested and analyzed, resulting in prosecutors moving their focus to Crump.

Crump’s DNA was found on bullet shell casings at the scene, and Bryant was excluded as being a possible contributor to the DNA. Also excluded as having provided any of the DNA was Andre McCoy Jr. of Youngstown, now 25, the third co-defendant, who was in the home at the time of the killing. He was himself shot in the face by the gunman and nearly died. He also was complicit with Bryant in planning the robbery.

The ruling states another critical type of evidence pointing to Crump as the shooter was data associated with the phones of Crump and Bryant. It showed that the phones traveled together from Youngstown to the home in Struthers “immediately prior to the shooting,” the ruling states.

The data also showed that the two phones left there within a minute of the first 911 call about the shootings, the ruling states.

In the arguments from Crump’s attorney, the appeals panel discussed the caselaw showing what must be proved to find an error but also in many cases mentioned the large amount of evidence showing Crump’s guilt as a reason the argument failed.

RESENTENCING

The ruling ordered that Crump be brought back to Mahoning County so that he can be resentenced on a complicity conviction that was related to convictions for aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary.

The appeals panel stated that in such a case, a person should not be sentenced on conspiracy if the person was also sentenced on a charge such as aggravated robbery or aggravated burglary that is associated with the complicity charge, which D’Apolito did. D’Apolito must either “merge or vacate the conspiracy conviction,” the ruling states.

But the ruling notes that the resentencing will “likely have no practical effect on (Crump’s) sentence because (D’Apolito) ran the sentence ordered (at the same time as Crump’s) other sentences. Thus it appears the merger will not affect (Crump’s) sentence in any practical way.”

The resentencing is set for 11 a.m. Sept. 16.

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