Life without parole for Isaiah Makuch in 2023 drive-by murder of Trey Sukey

ELYRIA — Isaiah Makuch will spend the rest of his life in prison for the fatal drive-by shooting of Trey Sukey in Elyria Township, a judge ruled Monday. Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Melissa Kobasher sentenced Makuch, 27, of Elyria, to life in prison without parole for killing Sukey, 30, of Lorain, in 2023. Kobasher heard two days of testimony late last month before finding Makuch guilty of aggravated murder, murder, attempted murder, felonious assault, discharge of a firearm on or near a prohibited premises and improper handling of firearms in a motor vehicle, all felonies, plus firearms and drive-by shooting specifications and two misdemeanor aggravated menacing charges. Makuch waived the right to a jury trial. Makuch has schizophrenia, which can involve hallucinations, delusions and disorganized thinking, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Treatment may include lifelong medication and therapy. By finding Makuch guilty, Kobasher ruled that he failed to prove he didn't known the wrongfulness of his actions at the time of the crime due to mental disease or defect. Makuch, who has been in the Lorain County Jail or psychiatric facilities for more than 900 days awaiting trial, apologized in court to Sukey and his family for what he did. "I feel sorry for them and I know that it's real tragic they lost a loved one," he said. "But I was mentally ill that day and I didn't know what I did was wrong. But now it hits me, I've been thinking about it all the time. I killed an innocent man. He can't continue with his life, his family. I feel bad for all of them." Testimony at trial indicated that Makuch believed Sukey and other motorcycle riders were members of the "Illuminati," a secret society that was out to get him and that was interfering with a romantic relationship he wanted to have. Assistant Prosecutor Matt Kern said Makuch told others he was motivated by racial hatred and that he intentionally targeted white people during his shooting spree, citing things Makuch allegedly said on recorded phone calls he was part of while being held in the Lorain County Jail. Makuch "went hunting" that day, Kern said. In Amherst he pointed his gun at a couple on a motorcycle and shot at another motorcycle rider but missed, before shooting Sukey on Lake Avenue. None of the other three victims wished to appear in court at sentencing, Kern said. The Lorain County Sheriff's Office said Makuch fired five shots from a 9 mm handgun out the window of his Honda Accord as he drove alongside Sukey's borrowed Kawasaki motorcycle on Lake Avenue. All five shots hit Sukey, who fell into the road and died shortly after. Sukey was a light-skinned Black man wearing motorcycle gear and a helmet so it was possible Makuch targeted him by mistake, Kern said. Makuch didn't show remorse, telling two psychologists that he targeted white people because "it was how he was raised," and didn't tell family members what he did "because he was concerned they would look at him as a murderer," Kern said. Makuch didn't challenge evidence he shot and killed Sukey after shooting at or threatening three other motorcycle riders with a gun on Oct. 24, 2023. Defense attorney Jason Harless instead argued that his client's mental illness made him not responsible for his actions. Makuch "clearly suffers from a severe mental disease," Harless said in court Monday, "rooted in delusion, rooted in complete delusion to the point where he didn't understand, I believe, the reality of what he was doing." Harless said the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office tried "applying rational thought to completely irrational thought" in his client's case. He asked Kobasher to give Makuch a sentence that included parole. Life without parole would "continue to punish him for what is clearly a mental disease," said Harless, who announced that his client plans to appeal. Sukey's family also asked that Makuch get life without the possibility of parole. Makuch "tormented a whole community," Sukey's mother, Autumn Smith, said in a victim impact statement. She cried as she remembered her only son as a faithful Catholic and registered organ donor, a journeyman ironworker who loved riding motorcycles. He had moved from Detroit to Lorain only a year before he was murdered. Smith said a witness to her son's last moments told her his last word was "Mom." "With Trey's murder, I have had half of my soul ripped from me," Smith said, steadied by her daughter, Sydney Lester. "I have had half of my identity taken from me." Her son's death left Smith mentally anguished, secluded, afraid, feeling guilty, depressed and at times suicidal, she said. "I will never hug him or be with both my children again," she said. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.