×

Boy admits to involuntary manslaughter in death of 14-year-old Landon Lockhart

YOUNGSTOWN — Elijah Carlisle, 17, the third juvenile arrested in the killing of 14-year-old Landon Lockhart, admitted to involuntary manslaughter with a gun specification.

He also admitted Tuesday in Mahoning County Juvenile Court to several other charges — and will learn his punishment on June 7, also in juvenile court.

Judge Theresa Dellick of the juvenile court earlier this month bound over charges against Anthony Wilkins and Anjuan Whitfield, also 17, in the killing to Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. A county grand jury will decide what charges they would face.

Landon’s body was found Jan. 13, 2022, in a wooded area off North Truesdale Avenue on the East Side. Landon, of Parkwood Avenue on the South Side, had gone missing Nov. 21, 2021.

Carlisle was charged initially with murder, but a plea deal he accepted Tuesday reduced the charge to involuntary manslaughter, a charge that did not require Dellick to bind him over to adult court.

But the judge spent a great deal of time quizzing Carlisle, to see if he understood that he was giving up certain rights by entering a plea instead of going to trial. Those rights include being able to have his attorney question witnesses at a trial and giving up his right to remain silent by admitting to his charges.

Carlisle did not always understand each of the rights as she explained them to him, so she had to approach the issue another way before she was satisfied he understood his rights.

She asked if he understood that by admitting to involuntary manslaughter, he could spend up to 14 years locked up — 11 years on the involuntary manslaughter and three more on the gun specification. He said he did.

She asked if he understood that if he goes into an Ohio Department of Youth Services (also sometimes called juvenile jail) facility and fails to adhere to the rules, such as not fighting and not joining a gang, he could face adult prison sanctions, and he said he understood.

“You are the one who determines if you leave (Ohio DYS detention) at age 21 or you are transferred to adult prison,” she said. He also could leave juvenile detention “a little earlier” than age 21, she said.

If he were to be sent to adult prison, he could be as old as 39 by the time he leaves, she said. She said she did the math for his co-defendants, and there is the possibility of incarceration up to 45 years of age.

TAKING THE PLEA

She asked if Carlisle understood that as part of his plea, he could be required to testify against his co-defendants.

“What do you want to do?” the judge asked Carlisle.

“Take the plea,” he said.

He was asked to tell her what testifying entailed, and he said: “I will have to do what I did the last time,” he said — referring to his testimony at a hearing April 30. At that hearing, Carlisle testified that he was in a car with Wilkins and Whitfield when Landon was killed, but he stayed in the car.

Later, Carlisle’s mother was asked if she agreed that the plea was in the best interests of her son or whether she wanted him to take it to trial. She did not answer for a long time but eventually agreed she wanted him to take the plea.

The judge found Carlisle delinquent of involuntary manslaughter and a gun specification, improperly handing firearms in a motor vehicle, carrying concealed weapons and possession of a deadly weapon while under detention.

Dellick allowed Landon’s mother and sister to speak before the hearing ended. Lajena Solomon, Landon’s mother, told the judge she did not think the amount of punishment Carlisle is facing is enough.

“I want you to punish him,” she said, adding that his punishment is too little for “the crime of taking the life of my son. There are days I want to die. I want punishment for my son. I’m his voice.”

Landon’s sister, Jazmynne Olds, said Carlisle’s actions were “hateful. You get to see the world. The most terrible thing was Christmas, searching for my baby brother. It’s not fair. This is so hurtful. I’ve felt pain before but nothing like this. We feel this pain every day.”

The judge expressed her condolences to the family for their pain.

Starting at $2.99/week.

Subscribe Today