Killer gets 32 years to life
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WARREN -- A convicted Trumbull County murderer, found guilty by a jury two weeks ago of killing a 26-year-old woman and her unborn fetus, on Friday received a life sentence with his first chance at parole after he serves 32 years in prison.
At a sentencing hearing, Kemari James, 29, proclaimed his innocence in the April 26, 2020, shooting death of a pregnant LaNesha Workman at a northwest side home. On Oct. 7, a jury returned guilty verdicts against James on five counts, including two murder charges, and an attempted murder convictions. Testimony had showed that James also tried to kill Andre Haynes that night.
Visiting Judge Gary Yost, retired from the Ashtabula County Common Pleas Court, handed down the sentence that includes consecutive sentences for the having weapons while under disability and escape convictions. The prison term also includes 13 additional years in prison because of gun and repeat violent offender specifications.
Yost disagreed with assistant Prosecutor Christopher Becker in merging the murder and attempted murder counts for sentencing purposes. The judge said the three results, the two deaths and the shooting at another man, were the result of one act, while in a presentence memo, Becker had argued those were separate acts.
After the hearing, Becker told the newspaper he is satisfied James is off the streets.
"He has been a menace, and we will make sure that he stays in prison for the rest of his life," Becker said.
Defense attorney Walter Madison of Akron said his client plans to appeal the verdict and the sentence. Yost asked Madison to file a form of indigency for James so that the court can appoint a public defender to work the appeal.
Madison said there are no winners in this case.
"Two people are dead," he said.
Madison had objected to the indictment that had James classified as a repeat violent offender.
Prior to the sentencing hearing, the court heard testimony from Warren police detective Nick Carney who confirmed that James was convicted of aggravated burglary, felonious assault and kidnapping. Becker said that case involved a May 2013 incident where James was convicted of pulling a knife and kidnapping an ex-girlfriend.
Court records show that James was sentenced by Judge Peter Kontos in January 2014 to serve four years in prison.
Yost was assigned to hear the case after Kontos retired from the bench in the summer.
During sentencing, the judge noted these offenses were committed by James while he was under post-release supervision by the Ohio Parole Authority.
"This was a factor in my sentence because it shows the defendant was not responding favorably to previous sanctions that had been imposed," Yost stated.
Court records show that James was on parole after serving 12 months in prison for a 2018 gun charge conviction.
MAINTAINS HIS INNOCENCE
When the judge asked if the defendant had anything to say prior to sentencing, James stood up at the defense table and faced the court spectators -- telling the family he is sorry for its loss. But then he said:
"I didn't kill anybody. You got the wrong person, and you are letting the real person get away with the killing, and he'll do it again."
In a victim impact statement, Workman's mother, April Riggins, asked Yost to give James the maximum sentence because he did not show remorse for the killings and did not accept responsibility, also threatening the family.
The mother fought back tears as she related her grandson's story about the night of the murder as he watched his mother die.
"I ask your honor to hand down a swift, maximum sentence. (James) is not only guilty; he shows no remorse. He killed a pregnant woman in front of her children," Riggins said.
She said the weeklong trial set back her and the family's grieving process.
"I feel like I'm now in the anger stage, mad that LaNesha can't raise her three children," she said, also noting the "dark atmosphere" of the trial in which Riggins had to testify. "I felt like I had to put on the armor of God every time I walked into this place."
Riggins also said she was hurt during defense testimony that tried to discredit her husband, a former police officer, after he had found some evidence -- a cellphone -- at the murder scene.
The mother also talked about her daughter, how she learned how to love her family as a small child and continued that way of life when it came to raising her own children.
"LaNesha was one of five children, the second oldest and from a child, she always tried to be a little helper … she took those same characteristics to her family. I believe that night she did everything in her power to protect her children."
FACTS OF THE CASE
Testimony showed that just after midnight on April 17, 2020, James arrived at 1637 Ogden Ave. NW, the home of Haynes and Workman, his seven-month-plus pregnant girlfriend. Also at the home were two small children. Prosecutors showed that as the group was playing video games, James pulled a gun on Haynes, accusing the man of stealing items from him. James ordered Haynes to get on his knees with the pregnant women with the two children still in the room. The defendant fired the gun while Haynes rushed James in hopes of getting the gun away from him.
Numerous shots were fired as the struggle continued outside into the driveway, testimony showed. Thinking the gun was jammed, Haynes ran from the scene going to numerous neighbors' homes seeking help. When police officers arrived at the home, they found Workman's body on the living room floor, dead from the gunshots.
After the shooting, James left the state without permission of his parole officer. He was eventually tracked to Baltimore, Maryland, where he was arrested by U.S. Marshals on May 5, 2020.
The trial had been delayed because James had four attorneys represent him through the pretrial process, Becker noted.