During trial, witnesses recall ‘brawl,’ party chaos

NEWARK – It started out as a high school party that grew into an out-of-control brawl, officials said.

When all was said and done, two people were taken to the hospital with stab wounds; numerous others had cuts, scrapes and bruises; and one person’s car had been stolen.

William Wilson Jr., 16, appeared Tuesday in front of Licking County Juvenile Court Magistrate Jeffrey Plunkett for an adjudication, or trial, on one equivalency count of aggravated robbery for his alleged role in the theft of the car.

The chaos of the night couldn’t be sorted out in witness testimony, Plunkett said while delivering his verdict Tuesday.

Plunkett found Wilson not guilty of the original charge of aggravated robbery but found him delinquent, the juvenile equivalent of guilty, of a lesser charge of misdemeanor unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

“The reality is Billy and two of his compatriots ended up in a car at a high rate of speed, not acting like they were in a car that’s borrowed,” Plunkett said.

Prosecutors alleged Wilson was with a group of people who robbed a 19-year-old at knifepoint, demanding his car keys, during a party May 9 and 10 on Martinsburg Road. The group eventually left in the stolen vehicle, prosecutors said, which crashed a short distance away.

Wilson reportedly told responding deputies he was driving that vehicle. He was injured in the crash and still has visible scars on his left arm.

Testimony from five teens who were at the party described the chaos of the night.

One witness stated a normal party got out of control after people began arguing and friends began defending friends.

The arguments quickly escalated into what another witness called a “big old brawl” involving about 40 people in the garage area of the home on the 7500 block of Martinsburg Road.

The victim testified he had driven to the party with Wilson, whom he had met only a few weeks earlier, and several of Wilson’s friends. After the fight settled down, that group encountered the victim, who said he gave up his car keys.

What happened during the encounter and how the keys were taken was the central focus of the testimony Tuesday.

Wilson’s attorney, Michael DalSanto, focused his cross-examination of the victim on inconsistent statements provided to police the night of the party and a statement given several days later.

Those inconsistencies were so great that Plunkett said he could not find Wilson guilty of aggravated robbery.

“It’s entirely possible that a robbery took place that night,” Plunkett said. “But (the victim) told stories that were so entirely different that I can’t be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Assistant Licking County Prosecutor Jenna Joseph focused her closing argument on the circumstances that might have led to the victim’s inconsistencies. She said the victim had witnessed a party get out of control, had seen two friends suffer serious stab wounds, and had been fearful of getting into trouble for bringing Wilson and others to the party.

Those inconsistencies should not have lessened Wilson’s role in the taking of the vehicle, she said.

“He was the getaway driver in all this,” she said. “Billy is the one that ended up with the keys.”

Wilson admitted Friday to two counts of felonious assault, both second-degree felony equivalents, for stabbing the two people at the party.

One of the injured suffered knife wounds to the chest and a collapsed lung, while the other had a stab wound to his scalp, resulting in 14 surgical staples, according to court records.

A charge of aggravated riot was dismissed. Wilson will be sentenced at a later date on all the charges.

Wilson is the first of his co-defendants to proceed to trial. Ramon R. Smith, 24, of Newark, the only adult charged in the crime, has entered not guilty pleas to charges of aggravated robbery, felonious assault and aggravated riot. His case is scheduled for trial in September.

Ricc’quawaun Chatmon, 15, has entered deny pleas to two counts of aggravated robbery and one count of aggravated riot. His case is scheduled for trial Aug. 3.

Prophet Johnson, 13, is scheduled for a trial on one count each of complicity to aggravated robbery and aggravated riot in August.