Warren man sentenced for putting gun to woman’s head at Hampshire House apartments
On Tuesday, a Trumbull County judge handed out consecutive prison sentences totaling eight to nine years to a Warren man who was found guilty by a jury on Tuesday, Dec. 3 of a second-degree felonious assault with a gun specification and another charge involving a convicted felon unlawfully carrying a gun, according to a Trumbull County press release.
William H. Brown III, 34, of Fifth Street SW, received a composite prison term from Judge Ronald J. Rice who included a three-year gun specification as well as a two- to three-year term for the felonious assault conviction plus an additional three years for having weapons while under disability.
The release stated the jury deliberated about three hours in Judge Rice’s Trumbull County Common Pleas courtroom before handing down the guilty verdicts.
Judge Rice said the seriousness of the crimes as well as the conduct of the defendant accounted for the consecutive sentences.
The case involved a June 2023 incident where Brown put a gun to the head of a woman at the Hampshire House apartments in southwest Warren. He later pistol whipped the same woman when she walked away from him, according to the release.
Assistant Prosecutor Kevin Trapp handled the case for the state, calling three witness including Detective Nicole Smith and Officer Will Fowler from the Warren Police Department. The defendant was represented by attorney Aaron Meikle, according to the release.
“I was very pleased with the sentence,” Trapp said. “I appreciate the Court emphasizing through its sentence that felons prohibited from carrying firearms are subject to harsher penalties, which they should be.”
Records showed Browns was sentenced to one year in prison in 2021 for a Trumbull County conviction on weapons charges.