Canton man jailed for murder sentenced for assaulting officer
NEW PHILADELPHIA (WJER) (March 18, 2022) – The 20-year-old Canton man sentenced to life in prison for the shooting death of a New Philadelphia resident recently pleaded guilty to two other violent crimes.
Sajjaad Butler in September pleaded guilty to killing Gaven Carlisle in New Philadelphia in March 2021. However, he has filed to withdraw his guilty plea and has a hearing scheduled for March 29.
In the meantime, Butler Wednesday pleaded guilty to assaulting a corrections officer at the Tuscarawas County Jail during his stay there over the summer.
Assistant County Prosecutor Scott Deedrick says Butler became enraged when he couldn’t use the phone while on lockdown.
“He struck one of the corrections officers with a closed fist,” Deedrick said. “It was on video and there were four other officers [there] other than the officer who was struck. Fortunately, he was not seriously injured, but obviously the law, our office and the sheriff’s department take a dim view of people striking corrections officers at the jail.”
Butler was sentenced to nine months in prison for assault, a fifth-degree felony.
On March 11, Butler pleaded guilty to assault charges related to an April 2020 incident in Stark County.
The Canton Repository reported Butler fired a gun into a car where a young woman and three teenage girls were sitting, injuring a 17-year-old girl. He was sentenced to five to seven and a half years in that case.
Someone had posted Butler’s $100,000 bond in that case in October 2020 as he waited for a trial date. It had been scheduled for April 5, 2021. Gaven Carlisle was killed March 5.
Deedrick says all the sentences will be served simultaneously. Butler would be eligible for parole on the aggravated murder conviction in 30 years.