The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Elyria man found guilty on lesser offenses
27-year-old was facing murder charge in Wellington man’s death
Nicholas D. Masley was found guilty March 26 of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of misdemeanor assault for the 2013 death of Jeffrey Brooks.
Masley, 27, of Elyria, was facing murder and felonious assault charges for “sucker punching” the 25-year-old Wellington man, whom he believed had gotten his cousin hooked on heroin.
But the Lorain County Common Pleas Court jury of 10 women and two men found him guilty of the lesser offenses.
Throughout the trial, Lorain County Assistant Prosecutor Donna Freeman argued Masley lured Brooks to a trailer at Colonial Oaks in Elyria on Dec. 12, 2013, with the intention of “beating him up” and to cause serious physical harm to Brooks.
Masley’s attorney, Kenneth Lieux, argued his client only wanted to confront Brooks and that his drug use caused his death; not Masley striking Brooks three times in the face.
Brooks died two days after the attack.
Lieux said he was pleased with the verdict.
Masley is facing a range of sentencing from probation to five years in prison, the attorney said.
“I think, what I felt the evidence showed, that Nick’s act of punching him
was just a simple assault,” Lieux said.
“Unfortunately, by the verdict they felt the death was the approximate result of the assault, so that’s why they found him guilty of the manslaughter; that’s required.
“I certainly respect the verdict of the jury in that
regard.”
Brooks’ family sat through each day of the trial and waited in a small room throughout the jury’s three hour and 30 minute deliberation of the case.
His family members did not feel Brooks received justice.
Tears trickled down the
face of Christen Gunder, Brooks’ mother, as she said the involuntary manslaughter charge, a thirddegree felony, wasn’t strong enough.
Masley should have been convicted of at least a firstdegree felony, Gunder said.
“(Masley) led to my son’s death,” she said. “I think
he was out to revenge his brother’s death.”
Masley’s brother died of a heroin overdose months before he assaulted Brooks, according to Lieux’s opening statement.
“I feel that Jeff did not get the justice he deserved, and he’s going to be missed and loved by us all,” Gunder said.
Gaylord Gunder, Brooks’ stepfather, said he was proud that he’d worked for and retired from Lorain County, but he was disappointed in the judicial system.
“We need to get new judges,” Gaylord Gunder said. “I guess that’s going to be the voters that will have to do it.
“This is not the first time something like this has happened. And unless things change, they will continue to be upside down like this.
“A person cannot take another person’s life and get by with the bare minimum. I’m not saying he should have gotten the death penalty, but he should have sat inside of a cell a lot longer than he is going to get.”
Gaylord Gunder said he and his wife hope Lorain County Common Pleas Court Judge James L. Miraldi, who presided over the case, will help get justice for Brooks.
“A lot of people loved my son, and this tragic death should not have happened,” he said.
Christen Gunder said society has become so desensitized to violence that it just seems normal.
She emphasized violence is wrong and taking someone’s life also is wrong.
“Vigilante justice, is that where we’re going?” Gaylord Gunder asked. “Is that what we’re condoning with our judicial system?
“To be able to get away with that? Shame on them.”