Halloween crime may cost teen 49 years in prison

Sharon Coolidge:

The second of three teenagers accused in the shooting of an elderly East Price Hill man during a burglary Halloween night was convicted Monday.

Otis Clark, 18, faces up to 49 years in prison when he's sentenced Oct. 5 on charges of attempted murder, two charges of aggravated burglary and two charges of felonious assault for shooting Charles Iles in his Terry Street home last Oct. 31.

Clark pleaded no contest to the charges in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.

Iles, 84, a retired postal carrier described by his family as the kind of man who refused to let anyone cut his grass or shovel his snow, remains in a nursing home, said his son, Steve Iles.

"Some days he's able to communicate, but most days he just sleeps," Steve Iles said. "He's still fed by tubes."

"That will probably never change," added Jerry Iles, the wounded man's brother.

Clark apologized to the Iles family: "I'm sorry for what happened. I didn't mean for it to happen the way it did."

Judge Dennis Helmick sentenced Deondrae Berryman, 17, on July 19 to spend 20 years in prison on two charges of aggravated burglary, attempted murder and felonious assault.

Terrance Davis, 17, was indicted on the same charges. His case is pending.

Berryman and Davis are accused of hatching a plan to rob the Ileses, who were giving out dimes to trick-or-treaters. As they approached the house just before 9 p.m., Clark joined them, said Assistant Hamilton County Prosecutor Gerald Krumpelbeck.

Berryman and Clark were both armed when they knocked on the door and forced their way into the home and demanded money, according to police and Krumpelbeck.

Berryman shot Iles twice as he attempted to get up from his chair.

Steve Iles said he wants the maximum penalty allowed when Judge Ethna Cooper orders the sentence next month, saying he doesn't believe Berryman got a long enough sentence.

"He'll still get out when he's 37," Steve Iles said.

"They'll still have a life and my brother won't," Jerry Iles said.

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