Jefferson County grand jury hands down indictments

Woodland indicted on two felony murder counts

STEUBENVILLE -- The Darlington Road resident accused of shooting a woman and her unborn child with a child in the car was indicted Wednesday for their murders.

The two-count felony murder indictment returned against Joshua Jerome Woodland, 30, carries firearm specifications.

Woodland, of 419 Darlington Road, allegedly shot 22-year-old Carol Barnett in the head May 26 three times with a 2-year-old sitting in a car seat beside him and his sister at the wheel.

The indictment alleges Woodland purposely caused the death of Barnett, employing a 9 mm Smith & Wesson pistol in his possession that he "indicated he possessed the firearm or used it to facilitate the offense of murder."

The second murder charge, also with a firearm specification, was added after authorities learned shortly before the grand jury convened that Barnett was 30-weeks pregnant.

Woodland was one of 14 people indicted by the June term of the grand jury, including a Salineville man ordered to stand trial for alleged rape and sexual battery of a teen, two men charged with getting behind the wheel while intoxicated with disastrous consequences for other motorists and a Weirton man who allegedly violated a protection on order to terrorize his estranged wife.

Anthony M. Abraham, 107 Township Highway 294, Salineville, was named in a two-count true bill charging him with one count of rape and one count of sexual battery, both felonies.

The indictment alleges Abraham, 22, used force or threats of force to compel a minor to have sex with him in November 2019. The indictment also alleges Abraham engaged in sexual conduct while the juvenile "was unaware that the act was being committed."

Some of the others indicted were:

≤ Charles Edward Taylor, 49, 343 New York Boulevard, Weirton, domestic violence and violating a protection order, both felonies, and a misdemeanor count of aggravated menacing.

The indictment alleges Taylor violated a protection order issued by a Hancock County magistrate on May 4; that he knowingly caused or attempted to cause physical harm to a member of his family, having previously been convicted of domestic violence in March 2007 in Martins Ferry; and that the family member believed he would cause them serious physical harm.

Authorities allege Taylor, in the midst of a divorce, spotted his estranged wife on state Route 7 and attempted to run her off the road in a construction zone in southern Jefferson County and had blocked her in when he realized a bystander "was actually filming the whole thing."

≤ Thomas Kevin Skavenski, 38, 2532 Hardin Run Road, New Cumberland, two counts aggravated vehicular assault and two counts aggravated vehicular assault, both felonies, and misdemeanor OVI.

Authorities allege Skavenski, 38, was drunk at the wheel April 28 when he pulled into oncoming traffic on the John Scott Connector at U.S. Route 22 in Steubenville to pass and crashed his 2015 Equinox head-on into an oncoming vehicle. Two people in an oncoming car suffered catastrophic injuries and had to be airlifted to Pittsburgh, they said. One remains hospitalized in Pittsburgh, the other locally.

≤ Shawn Tyrone Womack, 33, 1300 Wellesley Ave., Steubenville, one count felony aggravated vehicular assault with an additional finding, felony aggravated vehicular assault, and misdemeanor counts of driving under suspension and OVI.

Authorities allege a female motorist suffered three fractured vertebrae and may require additional surgeries as a result of Womack's decision to get behind the wheel on March 23, with an additional finding that he was under the influence of alcohol, drugs or a combination of the two. His license had been suspended without driving privileges, they noted.

≤ Gregory Scott Albaugh, 168 state Route 151, Mingo Junction, domestic violence with a specification, a felony, and misdemeanor child endangerment.

Albaugh, 39, allegedly caused or attempted to cause physical harm to his wife and "did recklessly create a substantial risk to the safety" of his year-old child.

Grand jurors noted Albaugh had three prior convictions for domestic violence -- in Illinois in November 2009 and again in February 2011, and in March 2021 in Jefferson County.

≤ Ryan Joseph Reidy, 21, 3064 county Road 56, Toronto, inducing panic, a felony.

Reidy allegedly caused the University of Nebraska to evacuate part of its Lincoln campus April 21 Reidy "by initiating or circulating a report or warning of an alleged or impending fire, explosion, crime, or other catastrophe, knowing that such a report or warning was false."

Authorities allege Reidy emailed a bomb threat to the university, forcing evacuation of part of the campus

≤ Michael Lee Lanham, 22, 166 township Road 307, Amsterdam, two counts of felonious assault.

The indictment alleges Lanham knowingly caused or attempted to cause serious physical harm to a female using a "weapon or deadly ordinance" on May 4.

Authorities described that weapon as some sort of machete or sword.

The female had told sheriff's deputies she and Lanham were talking but he became "annoying" so she asked him to shut up, which upset him, and grabbed the weapon and swung it, cutting her. Lanham had said they argued over a flashlight and when he stood up to walk away, she grabbed his shoulder so he couldn't leave and when he pushed her off him she tripped and fell. He'd told deputies "he believed she hit her face on a milk crate as she fell."

≤ Christopher J. Gulan, 1202 County Road, Toronto, named in indictments charging him with possession of drugs and improperly handling a firearm in a motor vehicle, both felonies, on Jan. 23 in Steubenville.

A second indictment charges Gulan, 50, with possession of drugs with a forfeiture specification, a felony, and misdemeanor child endangerment in Steubenville May 7.

Steubenville police allegedly found more than 45 grams of cocaine and an unloaded .22 caliber gun in Gulan's possession in January, while Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers discovered cocaine and a 13-year-old child in his vehicle in May, along with $1,433 in cash the state contends is proceeds derived from drug offenses.

≤ Derrick Lanell Owens Jr., AKA Eric Witting, 3644 Orchard St., Weirton, having weapons under disability and improperly handling a firearm in a motor vehicle, both felonies.

Owens, 30, allegedly had a loaded 9 mm gun in his possession during a March 28 traffic stop in Jefferson County, despite a 2010 felony conviction in Cook County, Ill., for aggravated domestic battery that prohibits him from having firearms.

≤ Santana Smith, 37, Cleveland, two counts of possession of drugs and tampering with evidence, all felonies.

The indictment alleges Smith, 37, had 60 grams of cocaine and six grams of fentanyl in his possession during an April 11 traffic stop in Steubenville and that he tried to get rid of the evidence.

Police had said Smith, who was pulled over for excessive window tint, tried to toss bags of drugs into the woods to avoid detection.

≤ DeShawn Lamar Curenton, 36, 1629 Labelle Court, Steubenville, burglary and breaking and entering, both felonies.

Curenton allegedly made his girlfriend act as a lookout so he could rob a neighbor's apartment April 18 at Market Square Apartments, authorities said.

≤ Joseph Brown, AKA Joseph Rhyeme Shabazz Brown, 20, Columbus, improperly handling a firearm in a motor vehicle and receiving stolen property, both felonies.

Brown allegedly had a loaded .40 Smith & Wesson in his car April 22 when he was pulled over by OSHP. The gun had been reported stolen.

≤ Jamal Goings, 31, Chicago, re-indicted on charges of possession of drugs, trafficking in drugs and possession of drugs with a forfeiture specification, all felonies.

Goings had been sentenced, but the Court of Appeals didn't like language used in the first sentencing entry so it was sent back and he was re-indicted.