Teen found guilty of reckless homicide in shooting death of other teen

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — A teen charged with murder for the November shooting death of another teen was found guilty of reckless homicide after a two-day trial in Mahoning County Juvenile Court.

Judge Theresa Dellick released her opinion Friday in the case of a teen who was 13 at the time charged with murder for the Nov. 11 shooting death of Logan Taylor, 14.

Taylor died after being shot in the defendant’s home on East Lucius Avenue. The defendant is now 14.

Judge Dellick’s opinion was issued following a trial that took place July 16 and 17. Reckless homicide is a third-degree felony.

WKBN does not list the names of juvenile defendants unless they are indicted by a grand jury in common pleas court.

The defendant was not charged with murder until January after ballistics evidence was analyzed. Taylor, who was friends with the defendant, was found in an upstairs room at his home when police arrived about 11:20 a.m.

The defendant testified on his own behalf and said he and Taylor had been playing video games that morning when Taylor began playing with a semiautomatic handgun he had bought over the night before.

City police Detective Sgt. Jerry Fulmer, the lead investigator on the case, testified that the defendant told him that Taylor had shot himself. The defendant also testified in court that Taylor had been playing with the gun and shot himself.

Judge Dellick said in her opinion that the defendant’s testimony does not match the evidence in the case. She said ballistics evidence shows that it was the defendant who fired the gun, not Taylor, especially because of where the shell casing was found and the angle of the wound that killed Taylor and the only DNA found on the gun belonged to the defendant.

However, the judge wrote she did not believe the defendant had intent to kill Taylor, but his actions were reckless and thus fit the definition of reckless homicide.

“There is not a question this was reckless homicide,” Judge Dellick wrote. “[Defendant] pointed a gun at LT [Taylor]. He pulled the trigger. The court did not find intent to murder based upon the testimony of the [defendant] and victim LT were best of friends. This was reckless behavior.”

Judge Dellick wrote in her opinion that sentencing will be at a later date. The defendant will remain in detention at the Juvenile Justice Center.

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