Lorain man gets 15-to-20 years in prison for fatal shooting at Elyria bar in 2021

A Lorain man who walked into an Elyria bar in July 2021 and fatally shot an Elyria man pleaded guilty to the killing and multiple other crimes and was sentenced to prison last week. Jajuan Malone, 25, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter with a three-year firearms specification, having weapons under disability and tampering with evidence with a one-year firearms specification on Aug. 22, the day his murder trial in the death of Caree Cannon was to start in Lorain County Common Pleas Court. Judge Raymond Ewers handed down an indefinite sentence of 15 to 20 years in prison, plus three additional prison sentences all to run concurrent to that sentence for crimes that Malone committed in 2020 and 2021. Aggravated murder, murder and felonious assault charges were dismissed by the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office as part of Malone's plea agreement. Chief Assistant Prosecutor Chris Pierre said the resolution "was discussed with the victim's family and they did have an opportunity to speak at sentencing." Malone received credit toward his prison sentence for between 756 and 792 days already served in the Lorain County Jail awaiting trial in four different cases, all of which were resolved by guilty pleas Aug. 22, Pierre said. The incident The Elyria Police Department and the county prosecutor's office said Malone walked into Bailey's Bar & Grille at 800 West River Road N. on July 28, 2021, where he shot and killed Cannon, 24. Elyria police said officers responded to a reported shooting at the bar about 10:20 p.m. that day. LifeCare transported Cannon to University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Prosecutors aren't required to prove a motive, and "motive is not something I could make a comment on," Pierre said Monday. It may have been a case of mistaken identity: Defense attorney Anthony Rich said his client was shot twice in two separate incidents prior to Cannon's killing. "Unfortunately Mr. Cannon looked like the identical twin of the person who shot (Malone) twice" within two weeks of the shooting at Bailey's, Rich said. Malone, his attorney said, "was absolutely convinced for a moment he was being set up and the decedent Mr. Cannon was the one who had shot him," his attorney said. With jail time credit, Malone is likely to be out of prison in just under 13 years, Rich said. Indefinite sentencing guidelines, under the 2019 Reagan Tokes law, means Malone will serve the minimum as long as he maintains good behavior behind bars. Cannon's mother "was nothing short of saintly, gracious and empathetic" toward her son's killer when she addressed Malone at his sentencing, Rich said. Malone's co-defendant in the Cannon case, 22-year-old Ronald Johnson of West Avenue in Elyria, was charged with obstructing justice and tampering with evidence, both felonies, in October 2021. Johnson pleaded guilty to those charges in Ewers' court in January and was sentenced to one year of probation, according to court records. Other cases A total of four criminal cases were resolved through Malone's guilty plea, according to the prosecutor's office. Malone also received a concurrent 30-month prison sentence in another case filed in February 2021 after pleading guilty to tampering with evidence, having weapons under disability, discharge of a firearm at or into prohibited premises and carrying a concealed weapon, with gun forfeiture specifications Aug. 22. Ewers ordered a Glock 43X 9mm handgun seized and held by the Lorain Police Department to be disposed of in that case. In a third case, filed in October 2021, Malone pleaded guilty to having weapons under disability, carrying a concealed weapon and improper handling of firearms in a motor vehicle, all felonies, and received an additional 30 months in prison concurrent with his prison sentence in Cannon's slaying. Ewers ordered an additional two guns, a Taurus PT22 semiautomatic and a Jennings T380 semiautomatic both being held by Lorain police in connection with that case, to be disposed of. In a fourth case from 2020 Malone was charged with aggravated riot and assault on a peace officer, both felonies and misdemeanor resisting arrest. That case arose from a riot in Lorain following the September 2020 funeral of a man killed in a car crash in Avon the previous month. Officers responded to the Knights of St. John's Hall on Kansas Avenue on Sept. 8, 2020, following the funeral for Charles Pierre-Louis. The hall had closed, and officers showed up to investigate noise complaints, parking and liquor violations and a fight. When the crowd started to yell at police and another Lorain man challenged two officers to a fight, Malone tried to stop the officers from arresting him, police said. The man Malone tried to help, 23-year-old Christopher Wicker, pleaded guilty to aggravated riot and assault on a peace officer, both felonies, and misdemeanor resisting arrest and Ewers gave him one year of probation in August 2022. Wicker completed probation earlier this month, according to court records. Malone pleaded guilty to all three of his charges for the riot on Aug. 22 and was sentenced to one year in prison on each felony and 30 days in jail on the misdemeanor, all to run concurrent to the prison term in Cannon's death, according to court records. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.