Jurors find George guilty for two charges
Published 3:00 am Friday, January 9, 2015
A year after being robbed and targeted by gunfire, a Pike County man found justice in the courtroom on Thursday.
A Pike County jury found Kenneth George guilty of first degree robbery and shooting into an occupied vehicle in connection with the incident that took place Sept. 24, 2013.
That’s when prosecutors said George robbed Johnny McCloud at gunpoint while McCloud was visiting a friend on Rose Circle.
“We are glad that 12 members of Pike County reviewed the evidence and held Kenneth George accountable for his conduct,” assistant district attorney Chris Kaminski said. “We are always pleased to seek justice and we were pleased to be able to get justice on behalf of our victim, Mr. McCloud.”
During the testimony on Thursday, Kaminski said George had been visiting Brittney Knox at her home on Rose Circle. “There were two other parties there:, the defendant and another woman, Whitney Youngblood, who conspired to rob the victim at gun point via text message,” Kaminski said.
That’s when George, armed with a pistol, demanded McCloud leave several personal belongings and flee the apartment, Kaminski told jurors..
“When they got out in the parking lot, the victim got into his vehicle and while trying to leave Kenneth George fired and struck the victim’s left rear tire of his Dodge Charger,” Kaminski said. “He hit the tire and as a result the tire went flat. The victim went to the BP Station where law enforcement was notified. The victim left his cellphone in the apartment in the course of the crime.”
Kaminski outlined a conspiracy between George and Knox, saying while at the apartment, “McCloud was told to get in bed and undress, and that’s when Kenneth George came into the bedroom. I would say that it was a conspiracy between Knox, Youngblood and George for this to happen.”
The jury unanimously convicted George and prosecutors said they will seek a sentence “that commiserates with the evidence presented.”
J. Taylor, George’s defense attorney, expressed his and Geroge’s disappointment in the jurors’ decision following Thursday’s verdict.
“Mr. George is obviously disappointed in the jury’s verdict,” Taylor said. “We felt confident that at the close of the States case we had portrayed to the jury the ludicrous nature of the testimony of the alleged victim coupled with the lack of physical evidence and that the testimony did not support a finding of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”