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WARREN — Trumbull County prosecutors have asked for a life without parole sentence for Kashaun Williams, whom jurors found guilty of eight felonies, including two counts of aggravated murder with death penalty specifications.
The jury reconvened for phase two of the trial the following week where they recommended a sentence of life without parole to Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Ronald J. Rice after three hours of deliberation.
A 10-page sentencing memorandum filed Wednesday by the prosecutor’s office laid out the state’s reasoning for recommending life without parole for Williams, 30.
Prosecutors painted a profile of the recently convicted killer with a longstanding involvement with the criminal justice system dating back to as early as when he was 10. The prosecutors believe the pattern of criminal activity indicates Williams has never — nor will ever be — rehabilitated.
The prosecutors wrote in the memorandum that throughout the trial, Williams had shown “no genuine remorse” for the April 2 murder of James Chapman, 34, and attempted murder and kidnapping of Chapman’s girlfriend, Martina Moore, 24, at the victim’s 690 Lener Ave. SW home.
Instead of showing a “scintilla of compassion” to either victim, the prosecutors wrote, Williams lied on both occasions when he took the stand and gave two different versions of that night’s events.
Williams testified during the initial phase of the capital murder trial, where he was subjected to cross-examination by the prosecutors. On the stand, he told the jury that Moore had been the one to shoot Chapman in the back, not him.
He took the stand again during the mitigation phase of the trial where he gave an unsworn statement claiming he was drugged and had blacked out that night, averting accountability for the crime he had been convicted of the previous week.
“Both stories were fashioned to save his own skin,” the prosecutors wrote. “The defendant has no conscience; he is a violent, gun-toting, trigger-happy psycho who needs to be removed from society.”
During deliberations, one juror was the sole holdout that found the aggravating circumstances of the defendant’s crimes did not outweigh the mitigating factors — sparing Williams from the death penalty.
The prosecutors pleaded with the court to abide by the recommended sentence asking the judge to save the world from a “one-man crime machine,” as they asked the court to impose consecutive sentences for other crimes committed by Williams.
Sentencing is set for Thursday. The judge can follow the jury’s recommendation or impose a lesser sentence, but he cannot sentence Williams to death.