Jaylon Jennings, 25, has pleaded no contest following last year's mass shooting in Cleveland's Warehouse District.
In a courtroom twist, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office said Jennings entered the no contest plea in a meeting on Tuesday, avoiding a trial.
Legal experts say a no contest plea is somewhat of a legal gray area.
"You still get a finding of guilt by the court, but the defendant doesn't admit it," Case Western Reserve University Law Professor Michael Benza explained.
We asked Benza what he thought this could mean when Jennings goes before a judge.
"The judge might say, 'Well, because you have saved us the expensive trial and all of those things, I am going to give you some break on sentencing.' In this particular case, it's probably not likely given the magnitude and the sheer number of charges," said Benza.
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Yasmine Hasan said while reviewing case evidence ahead of trial, the no contest plea was decided by Jennings.
"I think it's a way to still accept responsibility, just in a different way. When we did this in court yesterday, Mr. Jennings plead no contest but did so with the stipulation that there was a factual basis. So agreeing that the facts that we were presenting after he plead no contest were in fact true," Hasan said.
Hasan said her office will provide evidence and the victims' impact statements before sentencing. Jennings will be sentenced as if he pleaded guilty to all 31 charges.
"Send that message at the time of sentencing that this type of behavior, opening gunfire at a crowd right when the bars are closing, is unacceptable," said Hasan.
Restaurant and business owners in the area where the violence happened are still on edge a year later.
"Even during the day it seems like there's more stuff happening, it's not so much at nighttime as well. So it would be nice to see more presence from the police, it's not there fault but during the day as well." said Jackie Morere, owner of Map Room.
Morere said she is awaiting Jenning's sentencing for some closure.
"I think a lot of businesses, and just everyone, in general, would feel more peace of mind if it was a harsher sentence. that's what everyone is hoping for is that going forward they start handing out harsher sentences," said Morere.
Jennings is set to be sentenced on Sept. 3 and faces a minimum of nine years in prison. Meanwhile, co-defendant Kevin De Valle-Salaman is set to be sentenced on July 23.
What happened?
On July 9, 2023, authorities said that Jennings and Del Valle-Salaman left a bar on West 6th Street and retrieved a firearm from Valle-Salaman’s vehicle.
The two proceeded to wait outside of the bar for people to leave before Jennings opened fire on the crowd, authorities said.
In total, nine people were hit by gunfire.
RELATED: Suspects in Warehouse District mass shooting indicted Wednesday
Immediately after the shooting, the suspects ran back to Valle-Salaman’s vehicle and fled the scene, officials said.
Jennings was indicted on the following charges:
- Nine counts of attempted murder
- 18 counts of felonious assault
- Two counts of having a weapon under disability
- One count of grand theft
- One count of receiving stolen property
Valle-Salaman pleaded guilty earlier this year to the following charges:
- One count of tampering with evidence.
- One count of obstructing justice
