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Trial of man accused of shooting woman in head reset for Dec. 4

LISBON — An East Liverpool man accused of shooting a woman in the head during an argument in Woodland Hills late last year will now wait until December before his jury trial in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court.

In December of 2017, Deandre Dozier, 28, also known as Mouse, West Seventh Street, East Liverpool, was charged with attempted murder and felonious assault in the shooting of Christen Wilson on Nov. 19, 2017.

During last week’s grand jury session, a superseding indictment was issued adding an additional charge of having a weapon while under a disability. He appeared in custody on Tuesday before Judge C. Ashley Pike and was arraigned on the new charge. Pike granted a continuance in the case, which had initially been scheduled for a jury trial to start on Tuesday.

Dozier is currently serving a 10-month sentence at the Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Conneaut after he was previously convicted of two counts of possession of drugs for having heroin and cocaine in early 2015.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Dozier’s defense attorney, Mark Lavelle, requested Dozier be allowed to remain at the county jail for at least a day so he can meet with him and discuss the evidence in the case. Pike issued a ruling for Dozier to remain in Columbiana County until Thursday.

According to the Ohio Department of Corrections website, Dozier is scheduled to be released on Nov. 6. However, Dozier still has not posted bond in the attempted murder case, which is set at $500,000 cash or surety.

The mother of Christen Wilson testified at a preliminary hearing shortly after the shooting in November 2017 and reported her daughter suffered permanent, life-altering injuries from the gunshot wound to the head. Wilson reportedly had been shot by a handgun from a distance of about five feet and was transported to East Liverpool City Hospital and then to a Pittsburgh area hospital for treatment.

Dozier fled after the shooting, but turned himself in to police in Youngstown the next day.

Dozier is not the only one charged in the shooting of Wilson. Jessica Hightower, 37, West Seventh Street, East Liverpool, is charged with complicity to attempted murder and complicity to felonious assault.

Court documents claim Hightower told Dozier, who was her boyfriend, to shoot her sister, Wilson. Hightower is scheduled for a jury trial on Nov. 7.

Dozier’s jury trial is scheduled for Dec. 4.

djohnson@mojonews.com

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