Ohio man pleads guilty to 2021 shooting death of “Tink”

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (WTRF) — A Steubenville man pleaded guilty on Thursday in the 2021 shooting death of a man who sitting on the steps of a property on Pennsylvania avenue, according to media partner Herald-Star .

Herald-Star reports that 31-year-old Michaelis M. Forster pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter with specifications that he’d use a firearm to take the life of 44-year-old Terald “Tink” Herring on June 20, 2021.

According to Herald-Star, Forster was sentenced to between 11 and 16.5 years on the manslaughter charge, plus a mandatory three-year term for using a gun in commission of a crime and another year, also mandatory, for firing the gun across a public roadway.

Herald-Star says those sentenced will be served consecutively, beginning with the gun charges, and Forster won’t be eligible for parole for at least 15 years, though he will be credited for the nearly three years he’s been behind bars awaiting trial.

It is reported that Herring, who Herald-Star said had no permanent address, was shot five times. Once in the chest, once in the back, twice in one leg, and once in the other leg while he sat in front of the Pennsylvania Avenue property.

Prosecutor Jane Hanlin told Herald-Star that Herring was just sitting there. She said there was no interaction between the two, the incident was a drive-by shooting.

According to Herald-Star, shell casings found at the scene matched casing found lodged in the windshield wiper well of Forster’s car, but investigators were unable to locate the murder weapon.

Hanlin told Herald-Star that the Herring family was consulted before the plea deal was made. She said the family wanted to make sure that Forster was punished for his crime and that the community was safe.

Hanlin said that Forster went through different psychological competency evaluations and he was found competent and sane, although he had a “profound history of mental health problems.”

It is reported that Forster’s mental health problems were “exacerbated” by using illegal drugs instead of prescribed medication.

According to Herald-Star, Forster’s trial had been slated to begin Monday.

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