Voigt pleads guilty to attempted murder in drive-by shooting
LISBON — Nicholas J. Voigt of Negley on Tuesday pleaded guilty to several charges, including attempted murder, in a drive-by shooting incident last fall in Rogers.
Assistant County Prosecutor Ryan Weikart said it was Voigt who opened fire on the home of Matthew Casto on Oct. 16, 2017, firing 10 rounds from a .22-caliber rifle, all in the direction of a window of the home near where Casto was known to sleep. Although Casto was struck in the back of the head by one of the rounds, he was able to recover from the shooting.
Voigt, 22, Taylor Road, was reportedly a passenger in the vehicle driven by co-defendant Joseph Reed.
Before Judge C. Ashley Pike in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court on Tuesday, a soft-spoken Voigt pleaded guilty to attempted murder, a first-degree felony.
Additionally, he pleaded guilty to two second-degree felonies — felonious assault and discharging a firearm at or into an occupied structure. Finally, he pleaded to a firearms specification.
While the first three charges merge for sentencing, leading to a maximum sentence of 11 years for the attempted murder charge, Weikart said the firearms specification will add a mandatory year to the whatever sentence Voigt receives.
Weikart is asking for a 10-year prison term for the attempted murder charge and with the addition of the firearms specification, Voigt would be sentenced to 11 years.
A sentencing hearing is set for Aug. 20.
Reed, 24, Scotts Mill Road, Rogers, pleaded guilty on March 26 to complicity to attempted murder, complicity to felonious assault and complicity to improperly discharging a firearm at or into a habitation. Reed is scheduled to be sentenced on June 14.
At this point, no motive for the shooting has been given. Casto was reportedly present in the courtroom during Tuesday’s plea hearing.
