Youngstown man sentenced to 11 to 15 years for crash that killed 12-year-old boy

YOUNGSTOWN A Youngstown man who pleaded guilty to charges in a crash that claimed the life of a 12-year-old boy has learned his fate.

Thirty-two-year-old Brandon Kennedy was sentenced to 11 to 15 years in prison on charges of aggravated vehicular homicide and vehicular assault. Kennedy pleaded guilty to those charges on May 28. 

Judge Maureen Sweeney on Wednesday rejected a motion from the defense to postpone Kennedy's sentencing.

Kennedy's charges are connected to a November 2023 crash on the city's north side, at the intersection of Juanita and Alameda avenues, that killed a passenger in Kennedy’s car, 12-year-old JaVonie LaBooth.

Police reported that Kennedy was driving at a high speed with the child in the car and ran a stop sign, crashing into another car. Kennedy was indicted and arrested the month following the crash.

During the sentencing, LaBooth's mother JaVonne Brown delivered a victim impact statement saying she asked Brandon, who is a family member of hers, to take her kids to school because they missed the bus. 

Shortly after that, Brown said she received a knock on the door from a neighbor telling her that Kennedy was involved in a car accident and another later from a police officer telling her to get to the hospital because her kids were there.

"[LaBooth] was being wheeled in on a stretcher. There was a cop doing CPR on him. ... A while later a doctor pulled me into the room. ... He told me my baby didn't make it, he was gone. And my world shattered right then and there," Brown said.

Brown went on to say Kennedy lied to her about the circumstances of the accident, claiming to have stopped and looked both ways before entering the intersection and swerved to get out of the way when he saw the other vehicle.

"In December, the detective called me and he told me that the person who was driving my kids that day caused that accident. ... So when the detective told me that, I cut all communications off with Brandon because he had plenty of opportunities to tell me the truth and he didn't," Brown said.

The prosecution said Kennedy was driving 73 miles per hour that day and added that analysis of the vehicle's data revealed that the gas pedal was pushed all the way to the floor at the time of the crash.

"[Kennedy], going 73 miles an hour, went through a stop sign causing another vehicle to hit his. That impact caused [Kennedy's] vehicle to hit a tree. That collision pinned [LaBooth] in the vehicle and trapped a 13-year-old girl in the back seat," the prosecution said.

The prosecution added that Kennedy was driving with 16 open license suspensions at the time.

Kennedy also delivered a statement to the court trying to explain his side of the story. He addressed Brown and apolgized for the crash, saying the kids were enjoying the ride.

"Javonne, I want to let you know that the car ride that we had was actually a good car ride. [LaBooth] was listening to music, he was dancing, I was asking him 'what do you know about that song,' he was having a good time," Kennedy said.

Kennedy owned up to driving under suspension and speeding, but claimed he was not going as fast as the prosecution said he was.

"My speed, to be honest with you, I can see myself going 50. I can't see 70 still to this day," Kennedy said.

Kennedy also admitted that he did not fully stop at the stop sign, but maintained that he looked both ways before entering the intersection and added that the reason the pedal was all the way to the floor was that he was trying to avoid the other vehicle.

"I looked left first, I didn't see nobody, and when I looked right, nobody was coming. If they say the pedal got mashed down, it's because when I seen it, I tried to miss it and got pushed into a tree," Kennedy said.

Ultimately, Judge Sweeney sentenced Kennedy to 11 to 15 years in prison. He will face between 18 months to three years of post-release control following his prison term.