Trial set for alleged Orange Township shooter

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A Columbus man accused in an Orange Township shooting disassembled his handgun and hid the parts in cereal boxes to conceal it from investigators, prosecutors allege.

A June trial date has been set for Isaiah Dezjuan Steele, 19, who is charged with shooting another teenager in Orange Township earlier this month.

On Friday morning, Steele entered a not-guilty plea to a charge of felonious assault, a second-degree felony, which carries a firearm specification that could add additional prison time if Steele is convicted.

He also pleaded not guilty to a charge of improperly discharging a firearm at or into a habitation/in a school safety zone, a second-degree felony; a charge of receiving stolen property, a fourth-degree felony; and one charge of tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony.

Delaware County Common Pleas Magistrate Kristin Schultz accepted his plea and scheduled a trial for June 21.

Assistant county prosecutor Mark Sleeper told Schultz that Steele was involved in a shooting in the area of Blue Holly Drive in Orange Township on April 13. Sleeper said Steele and some friends jumped a number of individuals and assaulted them.

During the incident, Steele allegedly used a handgun to shoot 19-year-old Pierce Yurkoski-Gray three times, hitting him in the thigh, leg and scrotum. Sleeper said Steele was charged with the school-zone specification because the shooting took place just blocks away from Glen Oak Elementary.

Sleeper said Steele is facing the receiving stolen property charge because the handgun he used to commit the offense was stolen weeks before the shooting. Sleeper added that the tampering with evidence charge was added because Steele disassembled the gun after the shooting and hid the pieces in various cereal boxes in an effort to conceal the gun.

Schultz set Steele’s bond at $300,000, an increase from the $200,000 bond set in Delaware Municipal Court.

Two other individuals were also indicted on April 22 for taking part in the incident. They are:

• Terrance Dwayne Jewell II, 19, of Columbus, who is charged with felonious assault, a second-degree felony; robbery, a second-degree felony; and theft, a fifth-degree felony. His bail was set at $150,000 in Delaware Municipal Court. Court documents state that Jewell assisted Steele with robbing 19-year-old Marua Burlew and also punched her in the face, rendering her unconscious. Court records allege he stole a watch and her wallet, which contained three credit cards and $30. Jewell’s arraignment has not been scheduled.

• Kayle Marie Cantrell, 19, of Worthington, who is charged with robbery, a second-degree felony; and theft, a first-degree misdemeanor. Her bail was set at $50,000 in Delaware Municipal Court. Court documents allege that Cantrell assisted in the robbery by hitting and kicking another victim, 18-year-old Riley Smittle, and taking her iPhone 6. Cantrell’s arraignment has been set for May 6 at 2 p.m.

Steele at his arraignment Friday in Delaware County Common Pleas Court.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2016/04/web1_steele-in-court.jpgSteele at his arraignment Friday in Delaware County Common Pleas Court. Glenn Battishill | The Gazette

By Glenn Battishill

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Glenn Battishill can be reached at 740-413-0903 or on Twitter @BattishillDG.

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