Campbell resident convicted in 2023 shooting | News, Sports, Jobs

Staff Photo/Ed Runyan Appearing in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on Thursday, Angel Chico, left, speaks with Judge Anthony Donofrio alongside his attorney, Damian Billak. Chico was sentenced to 6 to 7.5 years in prison for shooting a man on July 21, 2023, on the porch of a Struthers home as part of a dispute with his ex-girlfriend.

YOUNGSTOWN — Angel Chico, 28, of Wilson Avenue, Campbell, was sentenced Thursday to 6 to 7.5 years in prison after pleading guilty earlier to felonious assault with a firearm and misdemeanor domestic violence and trespassing of a protection order.

The charges stem from Chico shooting at a group of people standing on the porch of a home on Elm Street in Struthers on July 21, 2023. One shot hit a man in the leg.

The victim was part of a group of people at the home who allowed Chico's ex-girlfriend to hide there, Struthers police said. The woman was home at the time but not on the porch, according to prosecutors.

When police arrived, they found the victim with the others providing first aid. Struthers firefighters transported the victim to the hospital.

Struthers police said that on the morning of the shooting, Chico's ex-girlfriend called Struthers police to report that Chico was walking past the home on Elm Street. Before police could respond, Chico drove to the home, fired one shot, injured the man and left.

When people on the porch saw Chico coming, they tried to rush inside, but not in time to avoid the gunshot, police said.

The woman was the subject of a protective order against Chico, who was arrested later that day in North Canton, police said.

Kevin Day, assistant county attorney, told Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony Donofrio that prosecutors were recommending a sentence of 10 to 13.5 years in prison.

Day said it was bad enough that Chico fired a gun at the people on the porch, but his actions could have led to a much worse outcome.

“He could have killed anyone else who was there.” He put the lives of everyone in that house in danger,” as well as the lives of others on the street, Day said.

“He shot a disabled person and caused serious physical injury. He needs to be punished for what he did,” Day said.

Judith Dodd, sister and guardian of the 50-year-old shooting victim and grandmother of Chico's child, said Chico was “a great father and I'm sad this whole situation happened.”

She blamed the incident on Chico becoming addicted to drugs. She said her brother was unable to work because of the shooting.

She said she was conflicted because she was her brother's guardian, so he is like a son to her, but so is Chico. “I am halfway between two sons, one that I had to adopt and the other that I looked at as a son all my life because of the great father that he is and that he was, until he falls into his loop.”

She hoped Chico would benefit from rehabilitation in prison.

She said she especially wanted the judge to know that Chico is not a “monster.”

Chico's biological mother, Elizabeth Fuhrman, said Chico began using drugs in January 2023 and it continued until the July incident. According to Fuhrman, Chico had not slept for seven days before the shooting and had attempted to die of a drug overdose the night before. He was using methamphetamine at the time of the shooting, she said.

She claimed someone pointed a gun at him before he fired, although Day later said none of this was confirmed by the police investigation. “That was never reflected in anything in this case,” Day told the judge when asked about it.

Chico gets credit for 333 days served in the Mahoning County Jail while awaiting trial.

Journalist Dan Pompili contributed to this report.

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