A Columbus teenager accused of assaulting an Orange Township teen in April pleaded guilty to a charge of felonious assault the day before he was scheduled to stand trial in Delaware County Common Pleas Court.
Terrance Jewell, 19, was scheduled for a jury trial Tuesday in Delaware County Common Pleas Court. Monday afternoon he pleaded guilty to a charge of felonious assault, a second-degree felony, and was scheduled for a sentencing hearing on Sept. 19 at 9 a.m.
As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors a charge of robbery, a second-degree felony and a charge of theft, a first-degree misdemeanor were dismissed.
The charge stemmed from an incident in the area of Blue Holly Drive in Orange Township on April 13. Prosecutors said Jewell, along with two other Columbus teens — Isaiah Steele, 19, and Kayle Cantrell, 19 — got into a fight with a group of teenagers after an argument erupted over text messaging.
Prosecutors said during the incident that Steele used a handgun during the fight to shoot 19-year-old Pierce Yurkowski-Gray of several times. Yurkowski-Gray has since been released from the hospital.
On Monday, Jewell admitted that he punched 19-year-old Maura Burlew in the face during the fight. The punch reportedly broke the teen’s cheekbone.
Prosecutors and Jewell’s attorney, Christopher Soon, jointly recommended that Jewell be sentenced to three years in prison for the charge. Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge Everett Krueger accepted the guilty plea but said he is not obligated to follow the recommendation.
Krueger also ordered that a pre-sentence investigation be conducted into Jewell.
Krueger continued Jewell’s current bond and Jewell was in the Delaware County Jail Tuesday afternoon, awaiting his sentencing.
Steele is still charged with felonious assault, a second-degree felony, which carries a firearm specification that could add additional prison time if Steele is convicted; improperly discharging a firearm at or into a habitation/in a school safety zone, a second-degree felony; receiving stolen property, a fourth-degree felony; and tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony. He is scheduled to stand trial on Sept. 20.
Cantrell was originally charged with felony robbery but prosecutors later filed a motion asking for the felony case to be dismissed. Prosecutors said that Cantrell would instead be pleading guilty to an assault and theft charge in Delaware Municipal Court on Sept. 9.
The three teens were indicted by a grand jury on April 22 and were all originally scheduled to stand trial on June 21, but the trial was delayed. The cases were later severed and three trials were scheduled.
