Man guilty in slaying of inspector
‘Ziggy’ shot while on duty in failed carjacking
A 19-year-old man was found guilty Wednesday of felony murder in the shotgun slaying of a city building inspector during a failed carjacking last year.
Prosecutors said Deshaun Scott, one of three men charged in the crime and another carjacking earlier that day, shot Greg “Ziggy” Zyszkiewicz as he sat in his Ford Mustang during a work day March 22, 2017.
But the jury, apparently not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Scott was the shooter, opted for the lesser offense of felony murder, the same charge filed against both co-defendants.
One co-defendant, Qhualun D. Shaw, 18, testified against Scott at trial, in expectation of a guilty plea and a break at his own sentencing. Scott’s attorney, Michael Plaisted, challenged Shaw’s credibility and suggested the third man in the carjacking crew, Eric Smiley Jr., was the more likely shooter.
Smiley, 22, was older and owned the sawed-off shotgun used in the crime, Plaisted argued. Shaw and Smiley were both charged with felony murder.
Scott was charged with first-degree reckless homicide with a dangerous weapon, punishable by up to 45 years in prison and 20 more on extended supervision. But jurors were instructed that if they couldn’t convict Scott of that offense, they could still find him guilty of felony murder, a lesser, included offense.
He faces up to 35 years in prison for the felony murder conviction, court officials said. He was also found guilty of fleeing and eluding an officer and possessing a firearm while having been an adjudicated delinquent.
“We thank the jury for doing the right thing at least in count one,” Plaisted
said.
The jury acquitted Scott of any role in the carjacking of a woman earlier that day. Prosecutors say he was present in a car with Shaw and Smiley when Smiley got out and took the woman’s Kia Soul at gunpoint as she was fueling up at a gas station.
After the trial Plaisted said he mourns for the Zyszkiewicz family, and he respects how they have handled the tragedy.
“Nobody’s happy with the situation,” Plaisted said. “We’re certainly gratified the jury did not find him guilty of the shooting. That’s very important to him.”
The Zyszkiewicz family said it was not ready to make a statement. Scott’s sentencing is set for July 30.
Zyszkiewicz, 64, was on duty Wednesday as a building inspector for the Department of Neighborhood Services when he was found dead in his car near N. 23rd and W. Cherry streets about 2 p.m. Prosecutors said he was shot nearly an hour earlier.
The three defendants, and two others not charged in the homicide or prior carjacking, were arrested early that evening after two separate vehicle pursuits that ended in crashes and foot chases.
Scott was driving a green Toyota Venza that had been stolen earlier that month, and which the three men used to carjack a woman of her Kia Soul at a gas station around 11 a.m. They were all in that Kia when they noticed Zyszkiewicz’s Mustang and decided to take it, Shaw testified.