Henry Spooner gets 3 years concurrent prison time for violating probation in 2020 shooting case

ELYRIA — Henry Spooner appeared in Lorain County Common Pleas Court again on Friday where his probation was revoked on a shooting conviction that put him on probation months before he committed a murder that is now sending him to prison. Nearly two weeks after sentencing him to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 26 years, Judge Giovanna Bremke sentenced Spooner, 23, to an additional three years in prison for violating his probation on felony assault and weapons convictions in 2022. Bremke ran that sentence concurrent, or at the same time as, the minimum 26-year sentence Spooner will be serving for the 2022 murder of Jordan Flanigan, 24. With credit for 932 days spent in the Lorain County Jail, Spooner owes only about 163 days or just under 5½ months on the sentence for the probation violation. Defense attorney Jason Harless asked only that Spooner get credit for time served. Spooner was the getaway driver in a 2020 shooting case in which he cooperated with authorities to put the triggerman in prison, according to the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office. Specifics of that crime weren't immediately available, but the outcome of the charges were discussed in court. In that case, Spooner pleaded guilty to improperly discharging a firearm at or into a habitation or school safety zone, felonious assault, discharge of a firearm on or near prohibited premises and improper handling of firearms in a motor vehicle, all felonies, for his part in that crime. Judge Chris Cook sentenced to five years community control on those charges. The triggerman in that case, Xaviah Lovejoy of Elyria, is serving a five- to six-year prison sentence imposed by Cook following his 2022 guilty plea.Convicted of charges including discharging a firearm at or into a habitation or school safety zone, felonious assault, improper handling of firearms in a motor vehicle and having weapons under disability along with firearms specifications, Lovejoy, now 23, has an expected release date in February 2026, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. The victim in that shooting was aware of Friday's hearing but didn't appear in court in time to speak, Chief Assistant Prosecutor Chris Pierre said. In response to Bremke's questions about how Spooner ended up with community control in that case, Pierre said his office decided to focus on putting Lovejoy in prison. "Mr. Spooner provided further evidence that Mr. Lovejoy was the shooter" in that case, Pierre said. "The collective decision was made that the safety of the community would be better-served by focusing efforts on getting a conviction on Mr. Lovejoy, the actual shooter, rather than someone (Spooner) who indicated — my belief — regret for being the driver and wanted to go on the straight-and-narrow and a chance to prove himself." Clearly "that didn't happen" when it came to Spooner, Pierre noted. Lovejoy shot at the victim's residence four different times, and Spooner "was allegedly involved in two" of those shootings, Pierre said. At the time, "Mr. Lovejoy was seen to be the greater danger to the community than Mr. Spooner," Pierre said, so prosecutors made an agreement with Spooner to secure a conviction on Lovejoy that included mandatory prison time. Testifying at a one-week trial in mid-July, Spooner claimed he shot Flanigan in self-defense at the Midview Crossing Apartments on Middle Avenue in Elyria on Oct. 27, 2022. A jury rejected his self-defense claim and found Spooner guilty of murder, felonious assault improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle and three firearms specifications. Spooner on Friday told Bremke he stood by his self-defense claim in the Flanigan murder. He has said he plans to appeal his murder conviction. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.