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By Ed Meyer
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 02:48 p.m. EST, Nov 05, 2009
Jay Sheridan Andrews was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for assaulting his former roommate with a machete in June at a home they shared on East Cuyahoga Falls Avenue.
Andrews, wearing green-striped jail clothes and looking pale and gaunt, was shackled at the wrists and ankles as he stood before the bench.
He was given a two-part sentence and showed no emotion, staring straight ahead, as Common Pleas Judge Alison McCarty explained her decision.
The first part was a maximum, eight-year prison term for each of two counts of felonious assault. The judge ordered those terms to run simultaneously.
The second part was a seven-year sentence, ordered to run consecutively, for the judge's finding that Andrews is a repeat violent offender.
In September 1996, according to Lake County Common Pleas Court records, Andrews was convicted of kidnapping and felonious assault in a violent incident at the home of his former employer in Mentor.
Assistant Summit Prosecutor Jay Cole told the judge that Andrews broke into the home, demanding money he claimed he was owed, and hit his ex-boss in the head with a club at least 12 times.
Cole said the man, his wife and her 16-year-old daughter were held captive in a laundry room during the attack.
''He told [the victim] he was going to watch his wife die, then he was going to die,'' Cole said.
Andrews, who testified in his own defense at last week's trial, said the man had stiffed him out of $1,400 in paychecks for work that he did for the man's company.
The victim in the June attack on Cuyahoga Falls Avenue, Richard Bracken — an admitted crack cocaine addict who was the prosecution's chief witness against Andrews — said he was hit in the head three times with a machete and the top of his left ear was bitten off.
Bracken, who was not present for today's sentencing, said Andrews tried to kill him for trashing the kitchen after Andrews refused to turn over $10 for a crack buy.
The machete attack, according to Bracken, was unprovoked. He said the chunk of his ear was bitten off and eaten as he struggled with Andrews for control of the machete.
Andrews, who acknowledged that he is gay and had tried unsuccessfully to have a husband-wife relationship with Bracken, testified that he acted in self-defense. Bracken, he said, made the first move, charging across the kitchen with a claw hammer.
The two men met earlier this year while they were being held at the county jail for minor offenses.
Although Andrews was convicted of felonious assault in the incident with Bracken, the jury found him not guilty of attempted murder.
McCarty could have given Andrews a 10-year prison term as a repeat violent offender. But she said she felt seven years was appropriate because Bracken had played the role of an agitator for much of the time on the night of the fight.
In defense of Andrews at today's hearing, attorney Reid Yoder showed the judge several photos that were taken of Andrews wearing women's clothes, jewelry and makeup.
Yoder said it showed another side of Andrews, which was vastly different from the prosecution's allegations that his life was marked by repeated violence.
''I've spent hours and hours with him [on this case], and he's never been violent. He's been the most forthright, honest client I've ever had,'' Yoder told the court.
Yoder argued for a lesser sentence on the repeat offender specification, urging the judge ''to help Jay get the help he deserves and needs'' outside of prison.
Andrews' mother and father died two years apart, in 2000 and 2002, and he has been in a diminished state of mind ever since, Yoder said.
After Andrews' trial last week, he tried to commit suicide over the weekend by slashing his neck with a metal fixture in his jail cell, authorities confirmed.
He received three stitches to the right side of his neck, which was covered in a large, gauze bandage for today's hearing.
Andrews' sister and brother, his niece and several of their friends were in the rear of the courtroom, and Andrews turned and glanced at them for a few moments before being led away by two sheriff's deputies.
McCarty told Andrews that he was one of the most intelligent witnesses in defense testimony that she had ever seen in her career. She was a former assistant county prosecutor and municipal court judge before being elected to a seat on the Common Pleas bench last year.
''But that doesn't excuse what you did,'' McCarty said. ''You can't try to kill someone because he doesn't love you.''
The sensible thing to do, she said, was to end the relationship by evicting Bracken or simply telling him that he had to leave.
''And you don't do that by taking a machete to someone's head,'' McCarty said.
Ed Meyer can be reached at 330-996-3784 or emeyer@thebeaconjournal.com.
Jay Sheridan Andrews was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for assaulting his former roommate with a machete in June at a home they shared on East Cuyahoga Falls Avenue.
Andrews, wearing green-striped jail clothes and looking pale and gaunt, was shackled at the wrists and ankles as he stood before the bench.
He was given a two-part sentence and showed no emotion, staring straight ahead, as Common Pleas Judge Alison McCarty explained her decision.
The first part was a maximum, eight-year prison term for each of two counts of felonious assault. The judge ordered those terms to run simultaneously.
The second part was a seven-year sentence, ordered to run consecutively, for the judge's finding that Andrews is a repeat violent offender.
In September 1996, according to Lake County Common Pleas Court records, Andrews was convicted of kidnapping and felonious assault in a violent incident at the home of his former employer in Mentor.
Assistant Summit Prosecutor Jay Cole told the judge that Andrews broke into the home, demanding money he claimed he was owed, and hit his ex-boss in the head with a club at least 12 times.
Cole said the man, his wife and her 16-year-old daughter were held captive in a laundry room during the attack.
''He told [the victim] he was going to watch his wife die, then he was going to die,'' Cole said.
Andrews, who testified in his own defense at last week's trial, said the man had stiffed him out of $1,400 in paychecks for work that he did for the man's company.
The victim in the June attack on Cuyahoga Falls Avenue, Richard Bracken — an admitted crack cocaine addict who was the prosecution's chief witness against Andrews — said he was hit in the head three times with a machete and the top of his left ear was bitten off.
Bracken, who was not present for today's sentencing, said Andrews tried to kill him for trashing the kitchen after Andrews refused to turn over $10 for a crack buy.
The machete attack, according to Bracken, was unprovoked. He said the chunk of his ear was bitten off and eaten as he struggled with Andrews for control of the machete.
Andrews, who acknowledged that he is gay and had tried unsuccessfully to have a husband-wife relationship with Bracken, testified that he acted in self-defense. Bracken, he said, made the first move, charging across the kitchen with a claw hammer.
The two men met earlier this year while they were being held at the county jail for minor offenses.
Although Andrews was convicted of felonious assault in the incident with Bracken, the jury found him not guilty of attempted murder.
McCarty could have given Andrews a 10-year prison term as a repeat violent offender. But she said she felt seven years was appropriate because Bracken had played the role of an agitator for much of the time on the night of the fight.
In defense of Andrews at today's hearing, attorney Reid Yoder showed the judge several photos that were taken of Andrews wearing women's clothes, jewelry and makeup.
Yoder said it showed another side of Andrews, which was vastly different from the prosecution's allegations that his life was marked by repeated violence.
''I've spent hours and hours with him [on this case], and he's never been violent. He's been the most forthright, honest client I've ever had,'' Yoder told the court.
Yoder argued for a lesser sentence on the repeat offender specification, urging the judge ''to help Jay get the help he deserves and needs'' outside of prison.
Andrews' mother and father died two years apart, in 2000 and 2002, and he has been in a diminished state of mind ever since, Yoder said.
After Andrews' trial last week, he tried to commit suicide over the weekend by slashing his neck with a metal fixture in his jail cell, authorities confirmed.
He received three stitches to the right side of his neck, which was covered in a large, gauze bandage for today's hearing.
Andrews' sister and brother, his niece and several of their friends were in the rear of the courtroom, and Andrews turned and glanced at them for a few moments before being led away by two sheriff's deputies.
McCarty told Andrews that he was one of the most intelligent witnesses in defense testimony that she had ever seen in her career. She was a former assistant county prosecutor and municipal court judge before being elected to a seat on the Common Pleas bench last year.
''But that doesn't excuse what you did,'' McCarty said. ''You can't try to kill someone because he doesn't love you.''
The sensible thing to do, she said, was to end the relationship by evicting Bracken or simply telling him that he had to leave.
''And you don't do that by taking a machete to someone's head,'' McCarty said.
Ed Meyer can be reached at 330-996-3784 or emeyer@thebeaconjournal.com.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
oıɥo 'uoɹʞɐ, ㏊㏊
Posted 03:12 PM, 11/05/2009
I thuriously hope he never geths out.
Paradise, Oh
Posted 03:17 PM, 11/05/2009
Hey, he looks real good in green and white.
That is a very good look for him.
Cuyahoga Falls, OH
Posted 03:57 PM, 11/05/2009
The dude is real strange. Have had to deal with him. Good place for him to be.
Realityville, OH
Posted 05:20 PM, 11/05/2009
Does that collar mean his Master owns him?
akron, oh
Posted 06:51 PM, 11/05/2009
These people are out there among us. The "victim" is as crazy as the defendant. And the best part is we all paid for this circus to be played out in court. My guess is the "victim" winds up dead or at the defense table within 10 months.
Posted 07:03 PM, 11/05/2009
Hey. The V neck IS making a comeback!
Westerville, OH
Posted 10:23 PM, 11/05/2009
Very sad to read in a related link to this story that Jay Sheridan Andrews lived on East Cuyahoga Falls Avenue in a "gang infested" neighborhood?
I grew up near East Cuyahoga Falls Avenue in the 60's and 70's and it wasn't gang-infested at all back then. In fact, there weren't gangs on North Hill - period back then.
I live in the Columbus area now but still have family in Akron and whenever I come back to "The Hill" for any reason, I'm always saddened by the steady erosion of that area. The people who live their now call parts of North Hill a "war zone".
I understand you've been sending your Mayor back to office since 1987?
Why?
Canal Fulton, Oh
Posted 10:44 PM, 11/05/2009
@simpleman...LOL!!!!
Your avatar still freaks me out tho :-)
N. Canton, Oh
Posted 06:40 AM, 11/06/2009
and the V neck goes well with the collar....
akron, oh
Posted 08:17 AM, 11/06/2009
"The two men met earlier this year while they were being held at the county jail for minor offenses."
"...and they lived happily ever after..."
Or something like that.
akron, oh
Posted 09:38 AM, 11/06/2009
At least this man will be locked up for a while. If history repeats its self, his victim will end up back in the slammer also. Time to move on!!!!
CuyahogaFalls, oh
Posted 12:39 PM, 11/06/2009
@beardy,nice avatar. Born in Massillon and moved to N. Canton did we? I see Obie hasen't changed!
akron, oh
Posted 01:41 PM, 11/06/2009
This is a tragedy now and always will be for all involved. What a waste.
