WARREN — A Warren man received a 36- to 40-year prison sentence on six counts in an October 2020 incident where two law officers had shots fired at them.

Mehki Walker, 22, of Northwest Boulevard, said in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court on Friday that he is innocent of the shootings despite being found guilty by a jury.

He was convicted Oct. 14 of two counts of attempted aggravated murder, each with three firearm specifications; two counts of felonious assault, each with three firearm specifications; one count of having weapons while under disability; and one count of failure to comply.

Visiting Judge Gary L. Yost of Ashtabula presided over the weeklong trial.

Walker was termed a career criminal by Assistant Prosecutor Charles Morrow, who argued for up to 30 years of mandatory sentencing, through various gun specifications, for firing at both a Trumbull County sheriff’s deputy and a Warren police officer in separate chases.

After lengthy discussions with Morrow and defense attorney Mary Ellen Ditchey in his chambers, Yost settled on seven mandatory years on each specification for Walker being convicted of shooting at law officers.

According to the trial testimony and police reports, Warren police officer Mario Matash was on patrol near Northwest Boulevard when he heard four gunshots close by on the northwest side of town. Those shots were fired at a sheriff’s cruiser driven by deputy Ken Romo. Both Matash and Romo have since left their respective departments. Romo, however, was in the courtroom for Friday’s sentencing, but chose not to speak. He also would not comment to the newspaper.

As Walker attempted a turn onto Norwood Street NW during the chase, his vehicle went off the road and into a ditch. As the suspect got out of the vehicle, reports state, he threw the firearm behind him and ran in the opposite direction.

The trial began Oct. 11. Both sides made their closing arguments on the morning of Oct. 14, and the jury returned its verdict mid-afternoon.

Ditchey said she is not denying the events of that day happened, but she is denying that Walker was the driver. She pointed out that four to six people’s DNA had been found in the car and the state did not test DNA from the steering wheel, the gear shift, keys, radio or inside door handle. She said the DNA evidence does not prove who was in the car, where or when.

During sentencing, Walker, an African American, maintained his innocence and the unfairness of the trial, noting that not one black person was represented on the jury.

Morrow acknowledged other DNA profiles were found in the car, but said Walker was a major contributor to all the tested swabs.

“The prosecutor’s office is happy that a dangerous, violent offender has been taken off the streets. We were fortunate that no one was killed or seriously injured,” Morrow said after the sentencing. “These are the kinds of cases that will be prosecuted to the fullest extent.”

Ditchey had questioned the credibility of testimony from Ethan Chambers, who said he was a passenger in Walker’s car at the time of the chases.

Trumbull County Common Pleas Court records show that Judge Andrew Logan sentenced Walker in 2019 to two years in prison on a conviction for having weapons as a felon. He was released in 2020 before this October incident. He also was recently sentenced for charges related to an aggravated robbery and assault, which also occurred Oct. 5, 2020. Yost made the sentences concurrent to that prison term, which Walker is currently serving in Mansfield Correctional Institution.