Youngstown woman pleads guilty in driving death of ex-boyfriend | News, Sports, Jobs

YOUNGSTOWN – Prosecutors are recommending an 11- to 16.5-year prison sentence for Shanay T. Jacobs, 32, of Youngstown, after she pleaded guilty Wednesday to a reduced charge of manslaughter in the Oct. 15 car-ramming death of her ex-boyfriend, Nathanial Watson, 30, on South Schenley Avenue on the West Side.

Her attorney, Walter Madison, is arguing for a prison sentence of 3 to 4.5 years, said Mahoning County Assistant District Attorney Patrick Kiraly. Her sentencing will take place at 9 a.m. on Sept. 16 after the Community Corrections Association of Youngstown conducts a preliminary investigation into her criminal history and background.

Jacobs was charged with murder, aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a vehicle and domestic violence on Dec. 7. She has been in the Mahoning County Jail since Oct. 15, free of $750,000 bail. If found guilty of murder, she would have received a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 15 years.

A two-hour preliminary hearing in Youngstown Municipal Court on Nov. 2 revealed that Watson was found fatally wounded under a car in the front yard of a home on South Schenley Avenue.

Jerry Fulmer, lead investigator for the Youngstown Police Department, said surveillance video from Jacobs’ sister’s home in South Schenley shows Watson walking out of the house in front of Jacobs immediately before he was run over.

Jacobs “came out of the house screaming and shouting abuse” and followed him, Fulmer said. Detective Chad Zubal played 10 short video clips during the hearing, one of which showed the screaming Fulmer described.

Fulmer said he interviewed Jacobs at the scene, and she said that after leaving Jacobs’ sister’s house, Watson walked along the sidewalk on Schenley and she drove off.

“At first she said he jumped in front of the car,” Fulmer testified. “But after talking to her further, she … admitted that she ran him over on the sidewalk.”

Fulmer said that during the investigation, investigators obtained surveillance video from another home in South Schenley that appeared to show Jacobs walking from the scene where Watson was killed back to Jacobs’ sister’s house.

Also visible were the headlights of a car that were visible around the time of the incident. Fulmer said Jacobs was driving the vehicle and it illuminated homes across the street from the security camera. The movement of the headlights shows Jacobs drove off the road to hit Watson, Fulmer said.

The video shows the headlights heading north on South Schenley at 5:08:14 a.m. At 5:08:17 a.m., “you can see the headlights then drift to the right … which suggests the vehicle was traveling in a different direction.” At 5:08:21 a.m., Watson was struck by the vehicle, Fulmer said.

No video shows Watson being struck, but the video showing the headlights “indicates that the car was going straight, turned, then went off the road and hit Nathaniel Watson,” Fulmer testified.

Police said they were initially called to South Schenley for a fight. The first Youngstown officer to arrive on the scene, Patrolman Nate Gibson, said he did not initially notice that someone had been hit by a car.

He said he stopped near the vehicle in the yard next to the sidewalk. Jacobs was standing nearby. “I stopped, got out of my patrol car and asked her what was going on and why her car was in the yard,” he said.

“She said – I’m paraphrasing – her ex-boyfriend jumped in front of the car,” Gibson said. “I looked around and didn’t see anyone else around, so I asked where he was now. She said he was under the car.”

He ordered Jacobs to move away and walked around the car to the passenger side. He said the passenger side of the car was closer to the houses than the road. He saw Watson under the car. He said he called to the man, but he didn’t respond.

Gibson testified that Jacobs spoke to him about the incident, which was recorded on his body camera. He read from a report he compiled that quoted her comments: “We dropped my sister’s car off there after a night of drinking, and my sister and I got into an argument,” he quoted her as saying.

“That was it. So I got in the car and drove off. My ex-boyfriend… jumped in front of the car and forced me to literally run over him so I couldn’t drive away.”

Gibson said firefighters pulled Watson out from under the car.

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