YOUNGSTOWN — Denicholas Stoutmire, 48, who is serving a sentence of 53 years to life in prison in the high-profile 1996 killing of 3-year-old Jessica Ballew in a gang-related shooting will not be eligible for parole for another 10 years.

Jessica had gone onto the porch her home on Oak Park Street on the East Side for a drink of water at the time Stoutmire and other members of a gang arrived there to take revenge against a rival gang member. Gunshots were fired, and the girl suffered fatal injuries.

The Ohio Parole Board board apparently thought Stoutmire was eligible for a parole hearing this year and scheduled one that took place last month.

Mahoning County Prosecutor Gina DeGenova sent a letter to the Ohio Parole Board in May, urging the board to deny parole to Stoutmire, who has been in prison about 26 years. She sent a copy to The Vindicator, which reported on the hearing. On Monday, online Ohio prison information about Stoutmire stated that his “next parole board hearing” will be December of 2033.

But when The Vindicator asked Monday for clarification of what happened at the hearing, JoEllen Smith, spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, said, “Mr. Stoutmire did meet with the Parole Board last month, however after further review it was determined his initial hearing is scheduled for 2034, so no action was taken by the board. He will be heard by the board in” about 10 years.

She would not clarify whether the mistake came from the Ohio Parole Board or the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

The ODRC website states that the ODRC director appoints the chairperson of the Ohio Parole Board. It states that the parole board has parole officers who assist in preparing parole hearing materials and other information to the board members.

The Ohio Parole Board is under the ODRC’s Division of Parole and Community Services, the website states.

Stoutmire was found guilty Sept. 24, 1996, in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court of one count of complicity to aggravated murder and a firearm specification in Jessica’s death following a jury trial. Stoutmire also was convicted of three counts of complicity to attempted aggravated murder with firearm specifications involving other victims. He was sentenced to consecutive prison sentences.

On June 10, 1996, members of the Bloods opened fire on members of the Crips, a rival gang, at Elm Street and New York Avenue on the North Side in Youngstown, according to a news release from the prosecutor’s office at the time. Edward McGaha, an affiliate of the Crips, was injured. After McGaha was released from the hospital, he, along with fellow members of the Crips, including Stoutmire, plotted their revenge against the Bloods, the news release stated.

Their plan called for the murder of Richard “Boom” Miles, who was believed to be the primary perpetrator in the earlier attack. To carry out their plan, members of the Crips stole two vehicles and borrowed a third to search the streets for Bloods.

Stoutmire drove one of the vehicles, containing three other Crips members, including Sidney Cornwell. Stoutmire stopped the vehicle in front of an apartment on Oak Park Street near Logan Avenue, where several people were sitting on the porch. Cornwell asked these individuals if “Boom” was inside, to which they responded, no.

Cornwell then shouted, “Tell Boom this” and opened fire on the house. Three adults were shot and injured, while Jessica was shot in the face and killed.

After serving more than one quarter of a century in the penitentiary, Stoutmire has completed very few programs and activities and received no credit for positive behavior, the prosecutor’s office stated in May. On the other hand, Stoutmire has been disciplined for several rule infractions.

Because of aggravating circumstances surrounding Stoutmire’s convictions, DeGenova told the parole board that “releasing Stoutmire into society would not further the interest of justice nor be consistent with the welfare and security of society.” DeGenova added that “(w)hile Stoutmire did not pull the trigger, he drove the shooter to the scene, fled the scene after shots were fired and went into hiding.”

According to witness testimony during trial, Stoutmire knew there was a plan to kill that night and knew that two of the car’s occupants had guns. The prosecutor’s letter to the parole board states that Stoutmire “put in motion a sequence of events that led to three people being shot and the death of a 3-year old little girl.” It adds, “Certain crimes justify life imprisonment, and this is one of them.”