The Daily Standard
Story Archive
Samuel Paul Jr., 49, Celina, reads a statement during his sentencing at the Mercer County Courthouse on Wednesday.
CELINA - A 49-year-old Celina man was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison Wednesday in Mercer Common Pleas Court for shooting his stepson-in-law in the back at a Celina residence in November 2024.
Samuel Paul Jr. was sentenced by Judge Matthew Fox to 10 to 12 ½ years in prison on one count of felonious assault, a second-degree felony, and one count of felonious assault, a second-degree felony, with a specification of firearm forfeiture.
He was originally charged with two counts of attempted murder, a first-degree felony, and four counts of felonious assault, a second-degree felony.
Due to a negotiated plea agreement filed in late January, the charges were amended.
The case stems from an incident on Nov. 3, 2024, when Celina police officers responded to a reported domestic disturbance at 641 N. Sugar St. in Celina at about 1:30 a.m. Upon arrival, they found Christopher Mangus, 25, on the ground in front of the house, suffering from a gunshot wound to the back, according to a Celina Police news release.
The scene was secured, and police officers "started life saving first aid" until the Celina Fire Department/Emergency Medical Services arrived, the release states.
A witness reportedly identified Paul, also a resident at the house, as the shooter. Paul is Mangus' stepfather-in-law, a preliminary investigation showed.
There had been a prior domestic dispute at the residence, and Mangus had left with his children. Mangus returned with the witness to retrieve items for the children, according to the release.
The witness reportedly heard yelling and was at the front door when Mangus was leaving.
"He reports that Samuel Paul reached around him to shoot Christopher Mangus in the back as he was leaving the residence," the release states.
Mangus was transported to Mercer County Community Hospital in Coldwater and then flown to a Dayton-area hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Police chief Tom Wale at a city council meeting later that month informed councilors that Mangus survived the incident and was released from the hospital.
Prior to entering a plea deal, Paul had claimed in a motion in December 2024 that his actions were justified as an act of self-defense.
The motion cited six statements of facts to support the justification, including that Mangus allegedly unlawfully entered Paul's residence the night of the shooting by climbing in through a window; that Mangus reportedly initiated a physical confrontation the night of the shooting with Paul by shoving him; and that Mangus reportedly threatened Paul the night before the shooting, causing Paul to have a reasonable fear for his safety, per court documents.
Paul's counsel also offered up three examples of prior incidents and circumstances in which Mangus allegedly became violent at Paul's home or Mangus reportedly threatened Paul, per court documents.
Before he was sentenced on Wednesday morning, Paul apologized to both the court and Mangus for the offense, and said it shouldn't have ever happened.
"I do want to apologize to Mr. Mangus for the suffering it's caused. This did not happen out of spite or hate or anything. It happened out of fear," Paul said. "I feared for my safety, my health, my well-being. He did push me down inside of the house and I think that's when it kind of clicked that he was there for violence and not for, as they said previously, (to pick up) car seats or whatever. The threats (came) all day long, causing me to just be scared to the point where I actually involved the Celina Police Department. I had called them and on their advice, I had locked my doors to keep him out. I was actually the one that called the police that night that he was in the house. I made that call to the police before the shooting took place to report that he was back, as they advised (to do). ... I didn't just wake up one morning and say, 'Hey, I want to do something bad today.' I am truly sorry for what happened."
In a memorandum filed prior to sentencing by his public defender, Thomas Lucente Jr., he said that Paul "is not an attorney and cannot be expected to understand all the nuances of self-defense, and holding him to a higher standard of self-defense to which we hold police officers is a travesty of justice. A similarly situated police officer would not have been charged with a crime in this fact scenario."
Two victim impact statements were submitted to the court but were not read out loud and are not public record.
Also on Wednesday in Mercer Common Pleas Court, Misty E. Kittle, 45, of Rockford, was sentenced to up to five years of community control sanctions on one count of aggravated trafficking in drugs, a third-degree felony.
Kittle entered a plea of guilty to the sole count in late January.
Tyler D. Grieshop, 43, Coldwater, was also sentenced on Wednesday to up to three years of community control sanctions on one count of domestic violence, a first-degree misdemeanor.
He was originally charged with strangulation, a fourth-degree felony, and domestic violence, a first-degree misdemeanor.
Due to a negotiated plea agreement entered in late January, the charges were amended.
