A Lake County jury has convicted Avion Gaines in the 2025 downtown Painesville shooting that killed 20-year-old Wyllyam James Sheffey Jr., closing a major chapter in a case that has weighed on the city for nearly a year.
The verdict, returned Thursday after a trial overseen by Judge Jeffrey W. Ruple, found Gaines guilty of complicity to aggravated murder, complicity to murder, murder, multiple counts of complicity to felonious assault with firearm specifications, and multiple counts of kidnapping, according to Cleveland.com. The outlet reported that details on Gaines' sentencing were not immediately available.
Case background
Authorities said Sheffey was discovered in the driver's seat of a vehicle at the intersection of North State Street and Rockwood Drive just before 8 p.m. on June 7, 2025, after multiple people opened fire. Investigators described the barrage as a targeted shooting rather than a random spray of bullets, according to WOIO. Witnesses told reporters they heard dozens of shots, and two other people were reported injured in the crossfire.
Four people were ultimately indicted in the case - Gaines, Zy’avier Jackson, Aviantae Atterberry, and Solomon Gaston - after a Lake County grand jury handed up charges that included aggravated murder for three of the defendants and a murder count against Gaines, according to reporting by The News-Herald. Court filings outlined prior confrontations that authorities say escalated into a pursuit and a blockade of Sheffey's vehicle around the Rockwood Drive intersection, the paper reported.
Legal next steps
The conviction leaves Gaines facing the most severe penalties available under Ohio law. Aggravated murder can be punished by death or life in prison, while a murder conviction generally carries an indefinite term of 15 years to life, depending on specifications and what a judge ultimately decides at sentencing. Those potential penalties are set out in Ohio Revised Code Section 2929.02 and Section 2903.01. Information on when Gaines will be sentenced was not immediately available, according to Cleveland.com.
Family members and neighbors said the killing shook the close-knit community. Sheffey's mother described him as "a ball of joy" who loved making people laugh, WOIO reported. City officials publicly thanked residents for the tips that helped move the investigation forward and credited investigators with working around the clock to build the case that ended in arrests and, now, a guilty verdict.
