FAIRMONT, W.Va. (WBOY) — The convicted sex offender from Ohio accused in a “drive-by” style shooting that happened in Fairmont last year pleaded no contest Friday to charges of attempted first-degree murder and presentation of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Back in October, Kenyatta Ephraim, 30, and two others were indicted on those charges , as well as charges of kidnapping, wanton endangerment and conspiracy, but those three charges were later dropped.

Ephraim, Tyreese Taylor of Ohio and Jamie Ray Jones of Milwaukee were all indicted after court documents say they kidnapped a man in Morgantown on April 27, 2023, and demanded money from him, while they drove him to Maple Avenue in Fairmont.

Once on Maple Avenue in Fairmont, Ephraim used a “small caliber firearm” to shoot at another victim, hitting a vehicle three times while the attempted murder victim was gathering items from inside the car, with one of the rounds hitting the vehicle’s rear windshield and ricocheting, entering an occupied home nearby, according to a criminal complaint .

The kidnapping victim was able to get out of the vehicle at Fairmont Medical Center and Ephraim was shot during the incident, according to the complaint. Neither the criminal complaints filed against Ephraim nor Taylor specified how Ephraim got shot.

Ephraim is scheduled to be sentenced within the next 60 days.

Taylor’s attorney told 12 News that he was acquitted of all charges related to this incident back in January 2024. Jones’ legal status is unknown.

Ohio’s sex offender registry shows Ephraim was convicted of attempted gross sexual imposition with sexual motivation against a child in May 2016 in Ohio.

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