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Trio sentenced in Liberty deaths

WARREN – Three people accused of taking part in the November 2009 death of a mother and her daughter were sentenced Thursday by Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge Ronald Rice.

Appollonia Baker, 28, of Youngstown, received six years in prison; Denise Jackson, 28, was given 13 years in prison; and Marquise Floyd, 28, of Youngstown, was sentenced to 22 years in prison.

They are accused of taking part in the shooting deaths of Wilneice Green, 28, and her daughter, Ja’Brayasia Green, inside their 3022 Northgate Drive home.

All three had entered pleas in the case about three years ago but the sentences were not handed down until the shooter in the case entered his pleas. Once Melvin Turner, 39, received his 19-year sentence in February, sentencing for the other three was scheduled.

James Christian, 23, also pleaded guilty but has yet to be sentenced.

None of Green’s family was in court Thursday when the sentences were handed down. All three of those being sentenced declined to give a statement.

Assistant prosecutor Chris Becker said Baker and Jackson cooperated with investigators. Their sentences were based on their level of cooperation.

Rice agreed to stick to the sentences in the plea bargains which were reached under the predecessor in his court, former Judge John Stuard, who retired at the end of 2012.

Prosecutors say Green and her daughter were killed by a group of people seeking Green’s boyfriend, Semmie Shorter, who was not at the Northgate apartment when the group arrived.

According to a police report, Shorter was accused of molesting a young female relative of Jackson’s in the home on the morning of Nov. 15, 2009. Jackson, according to a court affidavit, spoke to members of the conspiracy, telling them that Shorter needed to “pay for what he did.”

Wilneice and Ja’Brayasia were shot in the attack. According to a court affidavit, Turner, using an assault rifle, was the triggerman in each murder. Wilneice had apparently pleaded for the lives of her children before being shot.

Ja’Brayasia, according to the affidavit, attempted to run out the door. Turner allegedly told Christian to shoot her, but Christian did not. Turner pushed the girl to the floor and shot her, the affidavit states.

Shorter committed suicide in March 2010.

Floyd was to tell police where the weapon used in the shooting was, but it has never been found.

jgorman@tribtoday.com

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