Lorain man gets prison in 2020 killing of innocent bystander

A Lorain man convicted of shooting and killing an innocent bystander while shooting at another man on West 20th Street in Lorain in 2020 recently was sentenced to 25 to 30 years in prison. Israel Dominguez, 22, of Lorain, pleaded guilty to murder, involuntary manslaughter, felonious assault, improper discharge of a firearm at or into a habitation, tampering with evidence and having weapons under disability, all felonies, along with several firearms specifications in Lorain County Common Pleas Court on Jan. 6. Judge Christopher Rothgery sentenced Dominguez to several consecutive prison terms: 10 to 15 years on the involuntary manslaughter charge, six years for improper discharge of a firearm, two years for tampering with evidence, and seven years total for using a gun while committing the crimes, for a total of 25 up to 30 years behind bars. A murder charge was dismissed. Dominguez got credit for more than 800 days served in the Lorain County Jail awaiting his Jan. 9 trial date. Dominguez's earliest release date is in October 2045, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. His attorney, Steve Albenze, declined to comment on the outcome of the case. Rothgery ordered Dominguez to pay restitution of more than $10,265 to the family of 56-year-old Edward Suggs, who was killed by a stray bullet fired by Dominguez on Aug. 7, 2020. Court records said that Dominguez, who already was facing felony charges in another gun-related crime, went to confront 18-year-old Lucas Williams on Aug. 7, 2020, over allegations Williams had abused Dominguez's sister. Dominguez and four other people were in a Ford Fusion in the area of West 18th Street and Garden Avenue when Williams pulled up in a Chevrolet Malibu with a woman. Williams and one of the men with Dominguez fought in a front yard on Garden Avenue. During that fight, Williams pulled a gun and tried to hit onlookers with it, according to police and court records. Williams and the woman got back into the Chevrolet, drove around the block, parked next to the Ford and pointed the gun at the people inside, according to Lorain police. One of the people in Dominguez's car pulled a gun, which Dominguez took. He ran after Williams' car, firing shots at it as it pulled away. At that same moment, Suggs was on the porch of his house in the 400 block of West 20th Street with other members of the Sophisticated Gents Motorcycle Club. One of Dominguez's shots hit Suggs as he ran inside his house to escape the gunfire. Suggs later died at Mercy Health Hospital in Lorain. Dominguez fled but was arrested in October 2020. Suggs was a 1982 graduate of Admiral King High School in Lorain, worked on the assembly line for Ford Motor Co. in Avon, at the Murray Ridge Center in Lorain and for Lorain Products. He was survived by a large family. Nearly two years later, in July 2022, Williams was charged with murder in another case: The shooting death of 17-year-old Clearview High School student Jessica Baker in October 2019. He pleaded not guilty, and the next hearing in that case is in Judge James Miraldi's court in February, according to court records.