By Sharon Turco
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Jerome Brown killed a man for his 1968 Oldsmobile Cutlass with 20-inch gold custom rims, a Hamilton County jury determined Wednesday.

Saying he placed too a high a value on possessions, Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Melba Marsh told the 19-year-old Dayton man she was taking several decades of his life: His 20s, his 30s and his 40s.

"I'm going to take away all the cars, the homes, the travel," Marsh said. "I'm going to take away all the freedoms because you threw them away, you lost them for yourself because you wanted someone else's car."

"For that wanted desire, you went over the line," she added.

Marsh sentenced Brown to spend life in prison with the possibility for parole after 33 years on charges of aggravated murder and robbery for shooting Timothy Powell Jr. to death on Sept. 17, 2001, during a carjacking.

Prosecutors said Brown was attracted to the car because of its custom rims, valued at more than $4,000. Brown rounded up his buddies and drove to Cincinnati, where they cased Powell's car in the Club Ritz parking lot and followed him to Madisonville, where prosecutors say Brown shot him.

Brown maintains he is not guilty. Six others have been convicted and sentenced in the killing.

Assistant Hamilton County Prosecutor Seth Tieger described Brown as "one of the most dangerous people you have ever seen or will see."

Brown is also facing a 13-year prison sentence in a Dayton case in which he is accused of breaking into a home and shooting someone. In that case, Brown was shot, collapsed on the street and was run over by a car - but survived.

"You clung to life, you wanted to survive," Marsh said. "I'm sure if you asked Timmy if he wanted to live, the answer would be yes."

E-mail sturco@enquirer.com