Killer gets life in prison
Dominic Harvey eligible for parole after serving 50 to 55 1/2 years
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WARREN -- A Warren man avoided the death penalty and was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison after pleading guilty on an amended indictment of aggravated murder, aggravated attempted murder, tampering with evidence and receiving stolen property.
A large crowd of the victims' family filled a section of the court gallery wearing shirts, welding blankets and customized jewelry bearing the image of the victim, Jauton Jamal 'Jet' Lee Jr.
The family of Lee who was fatally shot by Harvey on July 21, 2022, erupted in applause when Judge Cynthia W. Rice of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court announced Dominic Harvey will serve life in prison.
Harvey was arrested only hours after the deadly shooting last summer on West Market Street that killed Lee and wounded Mitchell Powell, both of Warren.
The defendant was originally charged with capital murder but had that charge waived as part of a plea agreement with the state. Harvey will have parole eligibility after serving 50 to 55 and a half years.
Lee's parents, Tiana Jackson and Jauton Jamal Lee Sr., voiced their grief during impact statements as Harvey stood a few feet away.
"Your name is now just a number," Jackson said. "Your name will be forgotten and only remembered by your birth certificate. My son's name Jaton Jamal 'Jet' Lee Jr. will always be remembered by family, his daughter, sisters, brothers, friends. Every dark moment that comes through you it's 'Jet' (Jauton) passing by you letting you know he's in heaven and he's OK."
The verdict came two weeks before Jackson's Christmas Day birthday.
It'll be the second in a row she and her family will spend without her first born child.
After the hearing, Jackson said, "It's very hard, I live off through the kids, his sister, his brothers and my family but the holidays is one of the ones that just drags. You just want the day to go ahead and be over."
Lee Sr. looked Harvey in his eyes as he told him, "You killed my son, my best friend, my world." He followed with, "I don't think they gave you enough time. I can't get my son back and personally, I hope you never come home."
Harvey barely spoke when given the opportunity.
"I take full responsibility for my actions," he said.
"I'm sorry ... I wish things could've went differently ... I don't wish this hurt on anybody, everybody ain't perfect, we all make mistakes."
Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Becker sounded off on Ohio legislators after the verdict was given about the lack of usage of the death penalty.
"We have a death penalty that apparently we don't want to use. It's a little like buying for home protection and not buying any bullets," Becker said.
"If we're not going to use it, let's not have it. But the results of this case are basically that he will spend the rest of his life in prison and Mr. Harvey deserves to die in prison and hopefully that's exactly where he will be."