Holland man found guilty of murder, assault, burglary
8/31/2013Though he at first said the gun went off accidentally, a Holland man admitted in court Friday he shot one man to death and anoth-er in the leg, and struck a third over the head with the gun.
Antonio Taylor, Jr., 20, of 347 Oak View Ct. pleaded guilty in Lucas County Common Pleas Court to murder, aggravated burglary, and felonious assault, each with a firearms specification, for the April 29 shooting death of Nathaniel Phillips, 21, of Toledo; the wounding of Michael Kohlhofer, 20, of Holland, and the break-in at the apartment of Alec Giesege.
Taylor told the court he and Levi Jackson went to an apartment on Twin Oaks Drive in southwest Toledo at which Cody Ramsey, 17, of Holland had told them they would find occupants with drugs and money. Taylor admitted he and young Jackson went to the apartment to rob someone of drugs, but added, “It went bad.”
Taylor, who faces life in prison, is to be sentenced Sept. 23 by Judge Gene Zmuda, who accepted his pleas and found him guilty.
As part of a plea agreement, Taylor is to testify in young Jackson’s case. The Holland youth, 17, who was certified to stand trial as an adult, has a pretrial hearing before Judge Zmuda on Sept. 13.
Young Jackson is charged with murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, and two counts of felonious assault in the same incident, although Ian English, an assistant Lucas County prosecutor, told the court the defendant has been offered a plea agreement that would lower his possible sentence to 18 years to life in prison.
Young Ramsey was found delinquent in Lucas County Juvenile Court of complicity to robbery and complicity to aggravated robbery.
He was ordered to spend at least two years in an Ohio Department of Youth Services facility.
Contact Jennifer Feehan at: jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-213-2134.