Two Akron women embraced and comforted each other Wednesday in a Summit County courtroom.
They had never before met, but shared a mutual grief and sorrow.
Chinille Hunt lost her husband in a December 2015 shooting. Monique Mingo had just watched her son sentenced to prison on Wednesday for pulling the trigger.
Their embrace capped an emotional sentencing in which the families of Darien Mingo and Erick Hunt Sr. packed the courtroom and representatives from each gave tearful statements. The common themes were regret, forgiveness and concern for the violence plaguing the African-American community.
“I didn’t come here to beat you down with hateful words, nor to wish hell upon you,” Chinille Hunt said to Mingo. “But I’m praying for you. I’m praying you will make a change.”
Hunt paused to wipe away tears.
“You have an opportunity for better choices in your life,” she continued. “Erick can’t.”
Mingo, 23, pleaded guilty Feb. 9 to involuntary manslaughter with a gun specification for the Dec. 19, 2015, shooting death of Hunt, 47, at an apartment on West Long Street in Akron. Prosecutors say Hunt was shot four times, including once in the back.
Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Joy Malek Oldfield, who had tears in her eyes as she spoke, sentenced Mingo to nine years on the involuntary manslaughter charge and another year on the gun specification, for a total of 10 years. He faced up to 12 years.
“You will be a younger man than Mr. Hunt was when he died when you get out of prison,” the judge said.
Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Jonathan Baumoel said Mingo was dealing drugs at the apartment where the shooting happened. He said Hunt knocked on the door and Mingo answered. A woman in the apartment heard Mingo talking to Hunt and then gunshots. Hunt stumbled out of the apartment and collapsed.
Baumoel said Hunt may have gone to the apartment to get Mingo out because he was dealing drugs. Carla Hunt, Hunt’s sister, was living in the apartment, which Mingo was visiting.
Baumoel urged Oldfield to give Mingo the maximum possible sentence.
Vincent Peterson Sr., the pastor of Providence Baptist Church where Hunt attended, said Hunt had a troubled past, but turned his life around and had become one of his “greatest evangelists.”
“Everyone is not equipped to deal with people on the street,” Peterson said. “He would go out on the street. He just really wanted to see the lives of young brothers and young people converted.”
Peterson said he is involved with My Brother’s Keeper, which, as part of its efforts, reaches out to young men in prison. He said members of the program will send letters to Mingo while he is incarcerated.
“I think that is what Erick would have wanted,” Peterson said, prompting Mingo to cry. “We all forgive you. No one is forgetting about you. No one is turning their back on you.”
Peterson urged Mingo to take advantage of the programs available to him in prison and, when his time is done, become a positive role model for other young black men. If Mingo does this, Peterson said, Hunt’s death “wouldn’t have been in vain.”
Mingo’s family members asked Oldfield to consider a lighter sentence, noting his lack of a serious prior criminal record. They also apologized to the Hunt family.
“I hurt for you,” Monique Mingo told the Hunts.
Mingo said her son called her crying on the night of the shooting and said, “Help me. I killed somebody, I think.”
She asked whom he had killed and he answered, “I don’t know.” The two of them went together to the police station where Mingo turned himself in.
Monique Mingo said Darien’s father was a repeat offender She is now caring for Darien’s son, Noah, who is 1. She said Darien has never held his son because he has been in jail since he was born.
“I don’t want that for Noah,” Monique Mingo said.
Crystal Paynther, Mingo’s cousin, said her cousin is already talking about being a mentor.
“We realize there is a lack of strong African-American fathers in our community,” she said. “We know what the problems are. We know everyone has a purpose. Darien has realized he has a greater purpose.”
Mingo apologized to the Hunt family and his own family and thanked them for their support. He said he regrets what happened and wants to learn from it.
“From this point on, you won’t have any more trouble from me,” he promised Oldfield.
Oldfield credited Mingo for taking responsibility for what he did, but said he must be punished.
“I hope when you’re released, you’ll make good choices,” she told him.
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705, swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj .