Akron man pleads guilty for second time in shooting that followed yearlong harassment

A 40-year-old Akron man pleaded guilty for the second time to charges in a yearlong dispute with his neighbors that culminated with two people getting shot.

Jason Turkovich agreed to in late March to plead guilty to two counts of felonious assault, one count of having weapons under disability and two firearm specifications, which carry additional prison time.

A year of harassment: Akron woman details a year of racial harassment that ended in a hail of gunfire

He initially faced a third felonious assault charge, one count of discharge of a firearm on or near prohibited premises and additional firearm specifications and forfeiture of a weapon while under disability, according to court documents.

Shooting came after a year of harassment

The shooting occurred between 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on July 30, 2022, when a racially charged dispute between two neighbors on Stoddard Avenue nearly turned deadly.

Teasijah Rogers, 21 at the time, was shot in the buttocks and leg. A 32-year-old woman, who was also shot, underwent several surgeries but some damage to her intestines could not be fully repaired, the Beacon Journal reported in 2022.

Pleading guilty: Akron man pleads guilty in incident involving his neighbors that ended with gunfire

At the same time, a 23-year-old woman returned fire at Turkovich, Akron police said at the time.

Rogers told the Beacon Journal that in the months before the incident, Turkovich harassed her in her apartment. That harassment, she said, ranged from bolting shut the breaker box to her apartment when the power was out to threatening her with a knife, stealing security cameras or defacing those cameras with paint.

Over the year, Rogers said, they had reported him to the police for verbal and physical harassment — but no charges were filed.

On the day of the shooting, she said she and a person accompanying her returned to her apartment to find it nailed shut. Once they managed to get inside, they found the walls and furniture had been doused with gasoline. At about 4 p.m., she said, they confronted Turkovich — who began shooting soon after that.

Flip-flopping guilty, not guilty pleas

Turkovich initially pleaded not guilty and went on trial in mid-December, but on the second day of trial, he took a deal with prosecutors, according to court documents. Weeks later, he motioned to withdraw that guilty plea.

He claimed he felt pressured when his defense attorney, Joseph Gorman, presented the deal to him during the lunch hour on the second day of trial, according to the motion filed Jan. 5.

Then he explained how he believed his attorney did not fully develop his defense, claiming there was a video on the internet that would exonerate him. Gorman withdrew as his counsel on Jan. 22.

Attorneys Kerry O'Brien and Christopher Parker represented Turkovich in the following two months; on March 27, they motioned on behalf of Turkovich to withdraw the Jan. 5 guilty plea withdrawal.

Turkovich will be sentenced in Summit County Common Pleas Judge Kathryn Michael's courtroom at 9 a.m. on April 25.

Bryce Buyakie covers courts and public safety for the Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at bbuyakie@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @bryce_buyakie.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron man pleads guilty to shooting two women he allegedly harassed