YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — The man c onvicted last week in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court of killing a man he chased across parts of the South Side and wounding his fiance and their 3-year-old child was sentenced Monday to life in prison with no chance of parole.
Read next: Woman blames alcohol for man’s death, receives sentence for running him over Judge R. Scott Krichbaum gave the sentence to Vashuad May, 22, who was convicted Thursday by a jury following a two-day trial on charges of aggravated murder, attempted murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm for the April 26, 2022, shooting death of Rawsheem Aponte, 24 , and the wounding of his fiance, Rekia Wright and a child. A second child was in the car but not injured.
May received an additional sentence of 36 to 41 and a half years on the other charges.
The four were shot in a car Aponte was driving that was chased from Belden Avenue to a dead end on Mohawk Avenue. Wright testified during the trial that Aponte had a feud with members of the May family.
Wright said her children are traumatized by seeing their father killed in front of them.
“Rawsheem was my best friend; he was my kids’ best friend,” Wright said. “He [May] was the best part of our lives. He broke the best part of me. He took the best part of me.”
“Rawsheem is at peace now. This is a chapter of my life I have to let go because it’s full of hate.”
Assistant Prosecutor Michael Rich asked for a sentence of life without parole. He said May had a plan to carry it out and carried it out, firing point blank into his car.
“There’s one intention when you do that: To kill,” Rich said.
During the trial, prosecutors said two cars chased Aponte’s car, but once Aponte got to Mohawk Avenue, there was only one car that followed him there. That car, a white Malibu, was found a few days after Aponte was killed.
Police issued a warrant for May’s arrest a couple of days after Aponte was killed, but he managed to elude police until he was found in November by U.S. Marshals in Minnesota and brought back to Youngstown.
Prosecutors said Wright had identified May as the shooter, and she testified she knew it was him because she knew his eyes.
Prosecutors also said that May made a rap video a few days before Aponte was killed where he wielded a rifle similar to the one used to kill Aponte and that May held the rifle the same way the person who shot Aponte did.
Jurors viewed that video and another from a surveillance camera from a nearby home on Mohawk Avenue that showed the shooting.
Defense attorney Aaron Meikle said his client did not kill May, and police did not have solid evidence that he was the man who fired the shots that killed Aponte and wounded the others.
Meikle asked for a sentence of 20 to life on all charges, saying his client is still a young man and also that there jurors said there were problems with the evidence.
May said he is innocent but added he is praying for Wright and the Aponte family.
“I’m innocent, I’m standing on it,” May said. “I’m praying for the family and her because I have kids also.”
“To my family and friends: Head up, chest out. The fight has just begun.”
Judge Krichbaum called the shootings “unforgivable” and said May chased down Aponte until he was trapped before opening fire.
“This is as bad as it gets,” the judge said. “If this is how you want to roll, this is going to be the toll.”
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com.
Local News
