Home invader, stopped by armed citizen, sent to prison

Originally ran here on April 24, 2001 as:
Prison ordered in home invasion  
Clevelander sentenced for holding Kent couple at gunpoint last fall
By Robert Hoiles
Beacon Journal staff writer

[The actual event where the armed citizen stopped the repeat violent offender took place, as stated below, on October 30, 2000.]

RAVENNA: A 25-year-old Cleveland man was sentenced to 15 years in prison yesterday for his part in an Oct. 30 home invasion in Kent.

David Clark will serve nine years for two counts of kidnapping, with consecutive sentences of three years each for using a gun in the commission of a crime and possession of cocaine.

He also received an 11-month sentence for being a convicted felon with a gun. That is to be served concurrently with the other sentences.

Clark, sentenced by Judge John A. Enlow of Portage County Common Pleas Court, is the last of four defendants to be sentenced.

Clark, who previously served three prison terms for crimes he committed as an adult, also has a long juvenile record, Assistant Portage County Prosecutor Paul Gallagher told Enlow.

The victims, Ronald Henderson, 22, and his fiance, Latasha D. Franklin, both of Artemis Drive in Kent, were bound with duct tape and held at gunpoint after Clark and a second defendant, Robin M. Stewart, 20, of Cleveland, forced their way into the Kent home.

Henderson managed to free his hands, get a loaded pistol that he had hidden under a pillow and shoot Stewart.

Clark and Stewart fled to a nearby home, where they were arrested by Kent police, who found them hiding in a van. The van was parked at the home of Franklin's baby sitter, Jellaketa Jackson, 27, of Kent.

Jackson was sentenced to six months in jail for obstructing official business.

Her boyfriend, Gregory Hawkins, 27, of Cleveland, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for complicity to commit aggravated burglary with a gun specification. Stewart testified that Hawkins helped plan the burglary.

Stewart is serving a sevenyear sentence for aggravated burglary and kidnapping.

During Clark's and Stewart's trials, Henderson and Franklin testified that they were robbed of nearly $2,000 in cash, jewelry and a cellular phone.

Henderson is now awaiting trial in Mahoning County after being arrested there in February on drug charges.

After Henderson and another man were stopped by police, officers said, they found cocaine valued at $200,000 in their vehicle.

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