Two teens sentenced to 17 to 22 1/2 years in prison in the killing of 14-year-old Landon Lockhart are seen during their sentencing hearing Friday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. They are, from left, defendant Anjuan Whitfield, attorney Tony Meranto, defendant Anthony Wilkins Jr. and attorney John Shultz.

YOUNGSTOWN — Anjuan Whitfield and Anthony Wilkins Jr., who were 16 when they killed 14-year-old Landon Lockhart, accepted a plea agreement Friday and were sentenced to 17 to 22 1/2 years in prison.

Both pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter with a gun specification and having weapons while not allowed. They both get credit for 450 days locked up awaiting trial.

Jovonna Solomon, Lockhart’s sister, told Judge Anthony Donofrio before the sentencing that “our whole world stopped” Jan. 13, 2022. That’s when the coroner’s office called her mother to say they had identified the body found on the East Side as Landon’s.

Landon was the youngest of four children, and he “was our foundation,” she said.

“You have no idea what you all took from us, at all,” she said of the two defendants seated behind her. “You all destroyed our world — my brother’s, as well as myself and our family.”

She said the family will be Landon’s voice.

“We will never stop saying his name,” she said, hopeful that “one day you all realize the selfishness of your actions and the pain you caused. We miss him so much.”

Both defendants spoke briefly during the hearing.

Donofrio asked if they could explain what kind of conflict or words between them could have caused them to kill a “14-year-old kid.” A witness has said he was in a car with Whitfield, Wilkins and Lockhart before the murder.

“There’s more to it,” Whitfield told the judge. “He ain’t innocent.”

Whitfield’s attorney, Tony Meranto, then said: “I do not know exactly the facts that took place that caused these guys to take Mr. Lockhart’s life, but you have everybody in and out of the juvenile system, a car theft ring where people were involved, there was a party at a house — once again late at night, and these guys are all underaged.”

He noted that they were not yet 18 at the time, but Wilkins is turning 18 today, and Whitfield turned 18 a short time ago.

“I understand the frustration, and Mr. Whitfield says there’s more to it. I get it,” Meranto continued. “Square off and throw a punch like we did in our day. To pack a gun and think that’s the way to handle it — ever — especially at the tender age of 14 or 16 or 17 is ridiculous, and I don’t know what we can do about it, but we all have that responsibility.”

He said breakdowns in the home and in the schools are obvious causes of the high number of homicides in Youngstown involving teen defendants and victims that happen every year. “They’ve got to educate our children in a better fashion,” he said.

HEADS OFF TRIAL

Rob Andrews, county assistant prosecutor, said it still is not clear what the dispute was between the defendants and Lockhart.

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

Andrews said Landon’s mother, Lajena Solomon, and her family “never gave up hope. His mother was searching all over hoping he would be found alive, but not knowing where her son was just took its toll on her.”

The sentence of 17 to 22 1/2 years was the sentence jointly recommended by the prosecution and defense. Whitfield and Wilkins were scheduled to go to trial Monday before Donofrio, but the plea headed off the trial.

Both were charged with aggravated murder with a firearm specification and having weapons while not allowed and could have gotten as much as life in prison with parole eligibility after 20, 25 or 30 years if convicted. They got the maximum sentence, however, on the involuntary manslaughter, gun specification and weapons charge.

Because they were juveniles at the time of the offenses, they were not eligible for life in prison without the possibility of parole, or the death penalty on the aggravated murder charge.

A third teen charged in the case, Elijah Carlisle, 17, pleaded “true” in Mahoning County Juvenile Court in early June to involuntary manslaughter in Lockhart’s death.

Carlisle will be detained in an Ohio Department of Youth Services facility until he is 21. Carlisle said he was in the car with Whitfield, Wilkins and Lockhart the day Lockhart was killed. Carlisle has testified that he remained in the car when the other teens got out.

Judge Theresa Dellick of Mahoning County Juvenile Court bound over the case of Whitfield and Wilkins to Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in May to be tried as adults. Carlisle’s case remained in juvenile court.