Appeals court upholds murder conviction | News, Sports, Jobs

WARREN — The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the appeal of a man convicted of murder and attempted murder in connection with an April 2023 attack on a man and his girlfriend.

Kashaun Williams, 30, was sentenced to life in prison without parole with an additional 81 to 86.5 years for multiple other convictions connected to the incident involving James Chapman and Martina Moore.

He was convicted in November of aggravated murder, attempted murder, aggravated burglary, kidnapping, aggravated assault, assault on a peace officer and receiving stolen property.

Williams was spared the death penalty after a mitigation hearing, where jurors deliberated for about three hours before recommending life without parole. Common Pleas Court Judge Ronald J. Rice accepted the jury’s recommendation.

Testimony at trial revealed that Williams shot Chapman twice on the victim’s front porch, one of the bullets entering his heart and the other severing his spinal cord. Chapman died minutes after being shot. Williams was also found guilty of shooting and assaulting Moore and punching a police officer during his arrest.

Williams testified during the trial and claimed that the attack stemmed from a fight between him and Chapman, but insisted that Moore was the one who fired. But prosecutors argued that Williams had a violent past and presented evidence that he had previous convictions for assault, domestic violence, kidnapping and armed robbery committed when he was 16.

A psychologist called by the defense testified that Williams’ violent behavior was shaped by his troubled upbringing and inadequate medical care.

In his appeal, Williams and his attorney challenged the sufficiency of the evidence used to convict him and argued that the judge erred in allowing a change to the aggravated assault charge during the trial.

Appellate court judges Eugene Lucci, Matt Lynch and Robert J. Patton found no merit in either argument and upheld the convictions and sentence.