Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 24

Thread: John E. Drummond, Jr. - Ohio Execution - April 16, 2025

  1. #1
    Guest
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    5,534

    John E. Drummond, Jr. - Ohio Execution - April 16, 2025




    Summary of Offense:

    On March 24, 2003, Drummond murdered three-month-old Jiyen Dent, Jr. at his home in Youngstown. Drummond incorrectly believed Jiyen's father was involved in the 1998 murder of one of Drummond's fellow gang members. Drummond, 25, and an accomplice, Wayne Gilliam, 21, drove to the Dent household. Drummond got out of the car and fired 11 shots from an AK-47 assault rifle into the house, fatally shooting Jiyen in the head. Drummond later confessed to his cell mate that he was the shooter. Gilliam was also sentenced to 54 years in prison for his involvement in the aggravated murder.

  2. #2
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217

    New trial set in murder case

    YOUNGSTOWN - A disgraced former common pleas court judge's partially closing a 2004 murder trial to the public resulted in a death row inmate being granted another trial.

    U.S. Northern District Judge Sara Lioi ruled that former Mahoning County Court of Common Pleas Judge Maureen A. Cronin violated death-row inmate John Drummond's right to a public trial when she closed the trial to the public during the questioning of three witnesses.

    Drummond was charged with killing 3-month old Jiyen Dent Jr. on March 24, 2003, in a gang-retaliation shooting. He was convicted of aggravated murder, attempted murder, two counts of attempting to cause bodily harm through the use of a deadly weapon, discharging a firearm into an occupied structure and use of a firearm while under disability.

    The convictions for the Lincoln Knolls Crips gang included death penalty specifications of killing or attempting to kill two or more persons and killing someone 13 or younger.

    Lioi ordered another trial or that his sentence be dismissed in the next 180 days. The Ohio Attorney General's Office is appealing the judge's decision.

    Attorneys Timothy C. Ivey, David L. Doughten and Alan C. Rossman, representing Drummond, argued that Drummond's Sixth Amendment rights were violated by Cronin, who is in the midst of serving a 27-month prison sentence for taking a $18,000 no-interest cash loan from the co-owner of a prominent area business, closed the courtroom for portions of his trial on Feb. 4, 2004.

    The attorneys also argued that Cronin's order to close the court to all spectators except members of the media the following day violated Drummond's rights, but Lioi ruled that his trial attorneys failed to object to the ruling on Feb. 5.

    On Feb. 4, prosecutors questioned James "Cricket" Rozenbald, who testified he was nervous about testifying. Cronin, before Rozenbald was cross-examined, ordered everyone to leave not only the courtroom but also the entire building because of altercations between spectators Michael Peace and Damian Williams.

    Cronin explained to those who remained in the courtroom that some of the witnesses felt threatened by the spectators and that one spectator showed "total disrespect in chambers and gave deputies a very hard time" and that he and another spectator were involved in a physical altercation Feb. 3.

    Drummond's trial attorney, James Gentile, objected to the closure.

    The courtroom was kept clear for the questioning of two other witnesses, Nathaniel Morris and Yaraldean Thomas.

    Lioi's ruling overturned an Ohio Supreme Court decision that upheld Cronin's closure.

    Lioi wrote that Cronin failed to consider other alternatives and that she never offered specific rationale for closing the courtroom. She also ruled that the court could have taken other steps because there was no documented threat of a repeat incident Feb. 4. Cronin knew who the two men who created the problems were and could have them removed from the courtroom.

    She also disagreed with the Ohio Supreme Court's rational when they wrote that the "dangerous nature of gang violence and the genuine need to protect witnesses testifying against gang members from the deadly threat of retaliation." Lioi wrote that there were no apparent security concerns the morning of Feb. 4, when the courtroom was open to spectators.

    "While the presence of the media certainly may address the societal need for public trials, it cannot act as an absolute substitute where, as here, it cannot be determined from the record that the media was present for the entire duration of the closure," she said.

    http://www.tribtoday.com/page/conten....html?nav=5021

  3. #3
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Federal appeals court orders new trial for Ohio death row inmate, cites Sixth Amendment rights

    An Ohio death row inmate should get a new trial in the shooting death of a 3-month-old boy, a divided federal appeals court panel ruled Monday.

    The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision found that John Drummond was deprived of his Sixth Amendment right to a public trial when a judge cleared the courtroom during testimony. Drummond was convicted in 2004 of aggravated murder for the slaying of the baby, Jiyen Dent Jr., in a drive-by shooting in Youngstown. Prosecutors said Drummond, now 36, was a gang member who had meant to kill Jiyen Dent Sr., firing 11 shots with an assault rifle into Dent's home in 2003.

    The judge said during the trial that he was closing the courtroom during some testimony because there had been disturbances involving spectators, and that some witnesses felt threatened.

    The appeals panel's 2-1 decision, upholding a U.S. District Court judge's ruling, said there hadn't been sufficient reasons shown for the trial judge's action.

    "The trial court demonstrated neither an overriding interest nor a substantial reason to close the courtroom," wrote Judge R. Guy Cole Jr., joined by Judge Richard Allen Griffin. The ruling stated there was nothing in the case record to show why any witnesses felt threatened, "or if they had any grounds whatsoever for their ostensible concerns."

    The judges said although the courtroom was closed only for some testimony, they had "no means to order that a small portion of Drummond's trial be redone. Thus, the most appropriate remedy is a new trial."

    Judge Raymond M. Kethledge disagreed, writing that the trial judge "offered serious reasons for the closure and tailored its scope in rough proportion to them."

    The state could appeal to the full appeals court and to the U.S. Supreme Court.

    "We are reviewing the decision and we should have a determination on how we plan to proceed by the end of the week," said Jill Del Greco, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Mike DeWine.

    (Source: The Associated Press)
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  4. #4
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Ohio death row inmate condemned for murder convicted again

    An Ohio death row inmate has been convicted of aggravated murder in a 1997 case days after an appeals court ruled he should get a new trial in the 2003 death of a 3-month-old boy.

    The Ohio Attorney General's Office says 36-year-old John Drummond Jr. was convicted Wednesday in the fatal shooting of Ronald Hull in Ashtabula. The office says five other men pleaded guilty to kidnapping in that case.

    Prosecutors say Drummond faces a minimum of 28 years to life in prison at sentencing Friday.

    He was sentenced to death for a baby's slaying in a 2003 Youngstown drive-by shooting. A federal appeals court ruled Monday that Drummond should get a new trial, but the state might appeal that decision.

    A message was left Thursday for his public defender.

    http://www.northwestohio.com/news/st...5#.UiCcr3_b1Xg
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  5. #5
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Drummond sentenced in ’97 murder

    A former Youngstown gang member who was granted a new trial earlier this week for fatally shooting a 3-month-old was sentenced Friday to life in prison for a separate 1997 cold case murder.

    Former Lincoln Knolls Crips gang member John Drummond, 36, who was removed from death row in 2011, was sentenced Friday by Ashtabula County Common Pleas Judge Alfred Mackey to life in prison with a three-year sentencing enhancement for using an automatic weapon during the murder and kidnapping.

    A jury convicted Drummond Wednesday of the kidnapping and aggravated murder of an Ashtabula man over drugs and a $10,000 drug debt.

    Drummond and five others were charged in January with the Feb. 8, 1997 kidnapping and murder of Ronald Hull in an Ashtabula apartment on West 38th Street.

    All five pleaded guilty to kidnapping charges. Troy Jones, of Youngstown, and Jawann Evans, of Ashtabula, were both sentenced to three years prison and former Ashtabula residents Eric Weaver and George Church were sentenced to two years in prison. A sixth man was sentenced to three years probation.

    A federal appeals court panel on Monday upheld a ruling granting Drummond a new trial, more than nine years after he was originally convicted and sentenced to death.

    The U.S. Sixth Circuit Appeals Court panel ruled 2-1 decision that Drummond will have a new murder trial in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court because a disgraced judge wrongfully ordered his trial closed while three witnesses testified.

    Drummond was convicted 2004 of fatally shooting the Jiyen Dent Jr. on March 24, 2003 in a gang-retaliation shooting aimed at Dent’s father. He fired 11 bullets from an assault rifle into the home because he wrongly believed Dent Sr. had something to do with the murder of another Lincoln Knolls Crips gang member.

    Drummond was convicted of aggravated murder with death penalty specifications, attempted murder, two counts of attempting to cause bodily harm through the use of a deadly weapon, discharging a firearm into an occupied structure and use of a firearm while under disability.

    He was sentenced to death until he was taken off death row by U.S. District Judge Sara Lioi in 2011, who ruled then-Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge Maureen Cronin violated Drummond’s right to an open trial.

    http://www.wkbn.com/2013/08/30/drumm...-in-97-murder/
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  6. #6
    Senior Member CnCP Addict johncocacola's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Posts
    643
    Drummond is still under department custody, I haven't heard any updates but I'm assuming the state is asking for an en banc hearing. This crime happened not to far from me and I pray the sixth circuit will hear the case en banc if not SCOTUS.

  7. #7
    Senior Member CnCP Addict johncocacola's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Posts
    643
    The state is appealing this to SCOTUS and it's up for conference on Friday. Let's hope they agree to hear it!!

    http://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.a...les/13-496.htm

  8. #8
    Senior Member CnCP Addict johncocacola's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Posts
    643
    This again was up for conference yesterday, hope they agree to hear it.

    http://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.a...les/13-496.htm

  9. #9
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    13,014
    April 28, 2014

    13-496
    ROBINSON, WARDEN V. DRUMMOND, JOHN

    The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted. The judgment is vacated, and the case is remanded to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit for further consideration in light of White v. Woodall, 572 U. S. ___ (2014).

    http://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.a...les/13-496.htm

  10. #10
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    13,014
    U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on Ohio death penalty case

    By Jack Torry
    The Dayton Daily News

    The U.S. Supreme Court today ordered a federal appeals court in Cincinnati to re-consider a decision that would have led to a new trial for a Death Row inmate convicted of murdering a three-month old baby.

    By doing so, the justices made it less likely that John Drummond of Youngstown, convicted by a Youngstown court in 2003 for the murder, will receive a new trial.

    Drummond’s attorneys had argued that his constitutional rights had been violated when the state judge cleared the court room for two days after at least two witnesses complained they had been threatened by some of the spectators.

    The Ohio Supreme Court in 2006 upheld Drummond’s conviction of the murder of Jiyan Dent, Jr., who was hit by a bullet fired outside his family’s home. Drummond apparently had been trying to shoot an adult rather than the baby.

    But when Drummond’s attorneys filed his post-conviction appeal in federal court, a federal judge and the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals both ruled that Drummond should receive a new trial because the court room had been cleared of everyone except news reporters.

    Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices, referring to a decision they made earlier this month in a murder case from Kentucky, essentially ruled in DeWine’s favor.

    Ohio Solicitor Eric Murphy said the attorney general’s office will urge the 6th Circuit panel to deny Drummond a new trial.

    http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/...nalty-c/nfjwm/

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •