A 27-year-old Mexican national has pleaded guilty to aggravated murder with a firearm specification in the Aug. 14 shooting of a longtime Canton cabdriver.
Raul Benitez-Maranon, who was present in court with his two defense attorneys and an interpreter, will be sentenced Nov. 30 in Summit County Common Pleas Court by Judge Elinore Marsh Stormer.
Under Ohio law, the maximum sentence is life in prison with no parole eligibility. The judge, however, has discretion to impose a life sentence with parole eligibility after 20, 25 or 30 years in prison.
April Wiesner, spokeswoman for the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office, said Benitez-Maranon also will face an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hearing to be deported to Mexico should he ever be released from a state penitentiary. In exchange for his guilty plea, an additional charge of murder and a firearm specification were dismissed.
The defendant was scheduled to stand trial Monday for the fatal shooting of Jerry Laury, 61, who had picked up Benitez-Maranon at a restaurant in the Belden Village area in Stark County for a ride to his girlfriend’s apartment on South Main Street in New Franklin.
According to initial police accounts of the slaying, Benitez-Maranon was in a drug-fueled rage and fired at least eight shots following an argument over the cab fare.
He was arrested minutes later by New Franklin officer Monica Harvey after a resident of the apartment building heard shots and called 911.
New Franklin Police Chief Dan Davidson said at the time that Benitez-Maranon made offensive gestures to the female officer then kicked and licked the windows of her cruiser.
Investigators recovered a .40-caliber Smith &Wesson handgun believed to be the murder weapon.
Laury left behind six children.
Three of his daughters, his ex-wife Patricia Laury, one of his daughter’s cousins and a family friend were present in court Monday in anticipation of jury selection.
Laury’s daughter, Samona Laury, 42, said afterward that she and the family are grateful there will be no trial.
“I think justice has been done. It’s almost over for us now. We’re grateful it went the way it did so we don’t have to see the [autopsy photos] and listen to all the testimony,” she said.
She described her father as “a very giving, kind, loving person. He would do anything for anybody, and whenever I called, my Dad was available, and whenever I needed something, my Dad was there. I’ll always remember him as my Dad.”
He was a driver for Yellow Cab Co., on and off, for more than 30 years, Samona Laury said.
During that time, she said he also was a long-haul truck driver who finally realized his dream of owning his own big rig.
But he had long-standing kidney problems, she said, and had to give up the trucking job following a kidney transplant five or six years ago.
“I’m going to truly miss him,” Samona Laury said. “Everyone in the family just loved him.”
Ed Meyer can be reached at 330-996-3784 or at emeyer@thebeaconjournal.com.