JOHN E. DRUMMOND, JR. | Jiyen Dent Jr., a three-month-old baby, was shot and killed on March 24, 2003, while he was in his baby swing as part of a drive-by gang shooting | Ohio Execution: April 16, 2025 | ALS

Drum. Autographed Letter, Signed. Handwritten, Commercial #10 (4.125 × 9.5 envelope). Columbus, OH. Pmk: September 12, 2023. Content unknown. SEALED.

Death row inmate denied new trial for Youngstown drive-by baby murder

A man who has been sitting on Ohio's death row for more than 14 years has been denied a new trial for the murder of a three-month-old boy in Youngstown.

The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a motion for a new trial filed by 41-year-old John Drummond, who was sentenced to death in 2004 for the killing of Jiyen Dent in a 2003 drive-by shooting on Youngstown's East Side.

Drummond's attorney had asked the justices to vacate his client's conviction for aggravated murder and death sentence and send the case back to Mahoning County Court for a new trial.

The motion claimed that Drummond's conviction was unconstitutional because the trial court was prejudiced the jury when it allowed it to hear evidence that Drummond was in possession of ammunition and weapons not related to the death of Dent.

At the time, the judge hearing the case permitted the evidence because he felt it showed that Drummond was familiar with the use of weapons and ammunition.

Defense attorneys say that the Ohio Supreme Court had recently ruled in another case that a court committed an error by allowing the admission as evidence, weapons unrelated to the crime.

According to court records, Drummond used an assault rifle to fire 11 shots into the Dent family home on Rutledge Drive on the night of March 24, 2003.

Jiyen Dent Sr. said he was watching a movie while his infant son was in a baby swing in the living room when “bullets start coming through the windows and the walls.”

Dent Sr. told the court that he picked up the baby and ran down the hallway towards the bathroom.

The dad says he fell in the hallway and noticed that his son had been shot in the head.

Drummond, who was convicted on eight counts in all, including charges of aggravated murder, attempted murder, felonious assault as well as weapons. is scheduled to be executed on April 21, 2022.

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