YOUNGSTOWN — A Liberty Township man will serve five years in prison for shooting at his cousin.

Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Maureen Sweeney moved swiftly Wednesday morning, completing two hearings in less than 15 minutes. One of them was a sentencing for a man who pleaded guilty in September to one count of felonious assault, a second-degree felony. A three-year gun specification was reduced to one year in exchange for the plea.

In May 2024, Markies Hopkins, 25, of Logan Gate Road, fired 10 shots at the man after showing up to his house on East Dewey Avenue before fleeing the scene in his car.

He will serve five years for the crime — four years on the felonious assault charge plus the mandatory one year for the gun specification.

After the sentencing, the victim, who did not give his name, said the incident happened because Hopkins had a problem with him being gay.

“My cousin, he was talking about my sexuality on social media. He got upset because after he tried to slander me and insult me. I turned it around on him,” he said.

The man said Hopkins got his address from another family member, then drove across town to his house, honked his car horn and yelled at him to lure him outside, then left, came back, and drew the man outside and tried to start a fight.

“I finally went out there and was gonna give him a fair fight, and he pulls a gun on me and starts shooting, and I had to run away dodging bullets,” the man said.

One of the bullets grazed the man, but he was not seriously wounded and declined medical attention.

“He said he was gonna come back with a Mossberg (shotgun) and he was gonna get me and my dogs,” the man said.

During his brief statement before the court on Wednesday, he told Sweeney that Hopkins has continued to harass and threaten him, right up until Tuesday, threatening to come find him before the sentencing or to continue coming after him following his release from prison.

“Sometimes I feel like I hate him, but I don’t hate him because you don’t have that much power over me,” he said. “I just hate how you don’t even see your own ignorance, that’s what I hate. I want somebody to make you see it.”

During his opportunity to speak on his own behalf, Hopkins called the man a liar and said he has proof that the man was really harassing him.

Sweeeney cut Hopkins off and told him he should be explaining to her why she should not impose the maximum sentence of seven years. After briefly chatting with his attorney, James Wise, Hopkins merely stated, “I apologize for my actions that day.”

GUILDOO PLEA

Prior to Hopkins’ hearing, Sweeney quickly dispatched another plea agreement between the state and Christopher Guildoo of Sebring.

Guildoo, 47, pleaded guilty to multiple counts from two different cases.

A case from 2024 saw him charged with four counts of grand theft auto, a fourth-degree felony, and one count of breaking and entering, a fifth-degree felony. A 2025 case saw him charged with aggravated drug possession, grand theft auto and breaking and entering. There is also a charge of attempted tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony.

The Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office said Guildoo stashed the stolen vehicles in multiple locations to hide them from law enforcement. Guildoo pleaded guilty to all counts, and will be sentenced next week.