First Posted: 3/4/2015
LIMA — A man involved in a home invasion that ended in the self-defense death of his friend pleaded guilty Wednesday to involuntary manslaughter and aggravated burglary with a gun.
Markquis Hall, 25, agreed to the change of plea in exchange for a 16-year prison term. He can apply for judicial release after serving nearly 10 years in prison.
Sentencing was scheduled for April 13.
In exchange for the plea, the prosecution also dropped the more serious charge of murder with a firearm, two counts of felonious assault with a firearm, having a gun under a court sanction, and improper discharging a firearm at or into a habitation or school safety zone with a firearm.
The charges were connected to the Oct. 1 shooting at 724 W. Eureka St., that left 24-year-old Ja’Taven Dukes dead. Hall has a child with a woman that lived at the home but he was not welcome.
Dukes was killed when he was on the porch near Hall. Hall had a gun and was attempting to climb through a window when someone from inside the home fired shots. Dukes was hit while on the porch.
Witnesses said Hall fired shots into the house earlier in the night.
Authorities have not identified the person inside the home who fired the shot that killed Dukes. That person also has not been charged in connection with the shooting.
Hall also was wounded in the shooting.
Earlier in the night Hall got into an argument with his girlfriend, Shalinda Houston. He was kicked out but returned upset.
“He is here now with the gun again. He just broke down my window. He’s coming in,” Houston said in a 911 call. “Use the gun, use the gun. He’s shooting in my mom’s house.”
