A Summit County jury didn’t believe Deandre Baskerville’s self-defense claim in the fatal stabbing of Terrance Rogers Sr. that happened outside Chapel Hill Mall last summer.
The jurors, though, also didn’t think Baskerville intended to kill Rogers when he went to the mall that night.
On Friday, they found Baskerville not guilty of aggravated murder — which requires prior calculation — and guilty of two counts of murder and one count each of felonious assault and carrying a concealed weapon. He faces 15 years to life when he is sentenced at 9 a.m. Feb. 16 by Summit County Common Pleas Judge Mary Margaret Rowlands.
Baskerville, 29, prayed and wiped away tears as he waited to hear the verdict from the jurors, who deliberated for about two hours Friday afternoon after a trial that began Monday.
In the courtroom, family members of Baskerville and Rogers, who knew each other and grew up together in Akron, watched sadly as the verdicts were read. The decision gave neither family satisfaction.
“This could have been prevented if me or her would have known,” James Baskerville, Deandre’s father, said, pointing to Shirley Rogers, Terrance’s mother. “It didn’t go that way.”
Shirley Rogers, who hugged James Baskerville after hearing the verdicts, felt the same.
“It’s really sad,” she said. “So many black young men being killed over crazy stuff.”
Earlier in the day, Deandre Baskerville took the stand to tell jurors his version of what happened Aug. 19 when he stabbed Rogers, 35, outside the mall. He said he went to the mall to pay a cellphone bill and inquire about getting a phone repaired.
Baskerville said he saw Rogers, who he said owed him money for drugs, and confronted him. He said they argued and Rogers told him, “We’re going to settle this outside.”
Baskerville said the two of them continued arguing as they walked outside the mall’s eastern exit near Sears. He said Rogers told him, “I’m going to leave you where you stand,” which he took to mean he was either going to punch or kill him. He said Rogers reached in his pocket, and Baskerville put his hand in his pocket where he had a knife.
“Anybody knows from the streets — when you are having a heated discussion — you don’t make sudden moves,” Baskerville said. “Something was about to happen to me if I didn’t do something.”
Baskerville said he stabbed Rogers and then fled.
“Why did you not run?” asked Larry Whitney, one of Baskerville’s defense attorneys.
“How do I know what this man is reaching for?” Baskerville responded.
Baskerville said he thought he saw something black in Rogers’ hand before he stabbed him. He said he fled because he was fearful for his safety. He admitted to wiping up the blood in the vehicle he was driving, parking the vehicle at his father’s house, getting rid of his knife, burning the clothes he was wearing, and fleeing first to Columbus and then to West Virginia where he was arrested about a month after the incident.
During closing arguments, Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Brian LoPrinzi said Baskerville was angry with Rogers for not paying him the money he owed and avoiding him for several months. He said Rogers never physically touched Baskerville, and Baskerville could have just walked away.
Whitney, though, pointed out that Rogers also had a knife on him — one that prosecutors say he never pulled out during the altercation — and had a blood-alcohol level that was over the legal limit for driving.
“He knew what was going to happen next and he did what he did,” Whitney said. “He’s not proud of what he did. He did what he did to protect himself.”
Whitney said Baskerville didn’t react like he, LoPrinzi or the jurors would have in this situation, but he comes from a different upbringing.
After the verdicts, James Baskerville thanked Whitney and told him he did a good job. The father said he thinks his son’s chances were hurt by the fact that the jury of five women and seven men included no African-Americans. He said the jurors couldn’t grasp the lives and challenges of Baskerville and Rogers, who are black.
“They probably didn’t understand,” he said. “I feel it wasn’t right.”
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705 or swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @swarsmithabj and on Facebook: www.facebook.com/swarsmith.