Janicqua Bailey will spend at least five years in prison for her role in a January bar fight that left a man seriously injured.
Jessica Orozco | The Lima News
LIMA — A Lima woman who removed her ankle monitor to skip sentencing in September was sentenced Tuesday morning to five years in prison for a January assault at J’s American Pub.
Janicqua Bailey, 23, pleaded guilty earlier this year to felonious assault, a second-degree felony, for a fight at the bar that left Bradin Fisher-Jones with extensive facial fractures that required him to be transported to a Toledo hospital for surgery via helicopter, according to court records.
Bailey was originally set to be sentenced on Sept. 14 but did not appear in court. Her GPS ankle monitor was found “greased up,” perhaps having been lubricated to be removed, Allen County Common Pleas Court Judge Terri Kohlrieser said. The woman evaded arrest until Oct. 9, when she was found by police.
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Thines showed three video clips a bystander recorded on their phone and posted to Facebook of the January 22 incident, in which the majority of the fight can be seen. In the third clip, Bailey can be seen pushing or hitting Jordan Wehrly, who was an off-duty Spencerville Police Department patrol officer at the time but has since left the position. It then appears that Fisher-Jones attempted to defend the officer, reaching across and hitting Bailey.
Nicholas Williams, her boyfriend at the time who received four years in prison for the same incident, appeared to get involved in the assault of Fisher-Jones. Bailey punched and kicked the victim and while he was down kicked his face.
The two eventually backed off while others continued the assault before a bystander stepped in and broke up the fight.
Zachary Maisch, Bailey’s attorney, said that Bailey was wearing socks and slides during the initial altercation and can be seen only in socks while assaulting Fisher-Jones. He said she could not cause as much damage as the others involved.
Maisch said Bailey did not appear for her Sept. 14 sentencing because when she learned of Williams’ sentence, “it freaked her out.” He said this was wrong of her to do, but “shows her immaturity.”
When asked if she had anything she wanted to say, Bailey said, “Just, I’m sorry to the victim.”
Kohlrieser said that she does not believe Bailey shows “genuine remorse” for her actions and that she did not have to get involved in the fight. She said Williams entered the fight to defend Bailey.
“Nobody invited you to the fight,” Kohlrieser told Bailey.
Kohlrieser said when Fisher-Jones appeared to retreat from the fight toward the entrance of the bar, all of the co-defendants “chased him down.” She said Bailey “led that mob” to Fisher-Jones, showing her “leadership role” in the incident.
In a statement in her pre-sentencing investigation, Bailey wrote that she had tried to protect herself after Fisher-Jones hit her. She said she felt remorseful and prayed every day that he will forgive her.
Kohlrieser said that the sentence reflects only Bailey’s role in the fight, and not her failure to show up at her previous sentencing hearing. She said the state may press additional charges for fleeing.
According to court documents, Lima police officers were dispatched to the bar in reference to a large fight after receiving a 911 call from Wehrly. Upon their arrival, officers found Fisher-Jones, whose face was covered in blood, outside the bar.
Donavan Denson, 22, was sentenced to four years in prison in September for the same incident. Tysheen Polk, who eluded law enforcement until September 14 — the same day Bailey ran from authorities — had pleaded not guilty to charges related to the incident. A pre-trial for Polk is set for Oct. 28 and a jury trial for Nov. 11.
