YOUNGSTOWN — Dre’Juan M. Cochrane, 25, of West Ravenwood Avenue, pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of felonious assault and discharge of a firearm at or near prohibited premises and two one-year gun specifications in a May 5, 2023, incident on his street in which he fired a gun at a car.

Mahoning County prosecutors are recommending that Cochrane get five to seven years in prison when he is sentenced later. Assistant Prosecutor Patrick Fening told Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Maureen that prosecutors will recommend that Cochrane get out of prison on judicial release after three years in prison.

Judicial release is a type of early release granted by the sentencing judge. Cochrane has nearly one year of jail credit.

In exchange for his guilty pleas, Fening amended Cochrane’s gun specifications to one year instead of three. A misdemeanor criminal damaging or endangering charge would also be dismissed.

Cochrane was scheduled for trial Monday, but Sweeney asked Cochrane if he understood that if he went to trial and was convicted, he was “going to serve 17 years in prison.”

She pointed out that he was looking at two years in prison if he took the plea. And she noted that the crime is “on video.” He said he understood. Court documents state that the incident was captured on a nearby doorbell camera.

Then, Cochrane’s attorney, Joe Messuri, asked Sweeney to deny a motion filed by prosecutors to deny Cochrane the ability to use self defense as a defense against the discharging of a firearm at or near prohibited premises. The parties had filed briefs on the motion earlier.

Messuri asked if he could have some time to talk to Cochrane in light of Sweeney’s ruling on self-defense. About an hour later, Messuri informed prosecutors that Cochrane had changed his mind and was going to accept the plea agreement.

THE INCIDENT

The incident that led to the charges occurred May 5, 2023. According to Youngstown police, a 71-year-old woman was driving to her daughter’s house at 7:45 a.m. and went down Ravenwood Avenue because of construction on Glenwood Avenue.

She said she saw two adults and two children walking in the middle of the street.

She said she honked the horn to let them know she was coming and then drove on the wrong side of the road to avoid them. A man smacked her passenger mirror with his hand, causing the mirror to fold back, police were told.

The woman said she heard popping noises and did not know if it was gunfire or someone throwing rocks at the car. She proceeded to her daughter’s house and called 911. Officers saw the bullet hole in the car and saw fuel leaking from it.

Officers were alerted to the gunfire by the city’s ShotSpotter system on the South Side. About the same time, Cochrane called 911 to report the episode, saying he was not armed.

When officers arrived at his home, Cochrane had his arms in the air and was cooperative. He was not carrying a firearm. He told police that he was walking his brother to the bus stop because of gunfire in the area.

At Ravenwood near Hudson Avenue, Cochrane said a car “came out of nowhere and struck him.” Then the vehicle continued onward. He fired at the car, he said, to scare the person inside. He said the person in the car got out, so he fired his gun again. The person got in the car and drove away. Police seized Cochrane’s firearm.