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Leonard Temple murder trial, victim's father reacts

Moments before Leonard Temple stood trial for the murder of 14-year-old Dominique Alexander on Tuesday, a plea deal was accepted.

Moments before Leonard Temple stood trial for the murder of 14-year-old Dominique Alexander on Tuesday, a plea deal was accepted. Temple was then found guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter, dropping the murder charge and the possibility of a life sentence.

However, the victim's says their family wanted to see their son's killer go to trial.

Donald Alexander lives in California but says since his son was murdered a year ago, he has been in close contact with the prosecutor in the case.

He says what happened Tuesday is unbelievable and he is shocked the prosecutor offered Temple a plea deal after the family wanted this case to play out in the courtroom.

"I feel betrayed," Alexander explained. "I think I should have received a phone call from the prosecutor stating what was going to happen today, what was going to be laid out on the table. I did receive a call in December about the first plea offer on the table and we declined and told her we wanted to go to trial."

It was last January when Dominique, or Domo, Alexander went to visit his cousin at this house in east Toledo. His cousin was not home, but her boyfriend, Temple, was.

Alexander says he does not know what happened next but says he feels it was not an accident, like police originally said, and is upset Temple has been out on bond in this case before he could even bury his son.

"If you look at the facts, you have two grown men in the house with a minor," Alexander said. "Someone picked up the gun, aimed it and pulled the trigger. There are only three people in that house that know the truth and one of them is dead."

Temple will be sentenced next month. This plea deal struck Tuesday means he will have to serve at least one year in prison, the most the judge could sentence him to is 12 years.

After speaking with Dominique's father, we reached out to the prosecutors. They say prosecutors are not the victim's family's attorney and it is their job to seek justice in a case like this while protecting the public.

Jeff Lingo, with the Prosecutors Office, says there is no evidence he is aware of that shows Temple purposefully shot and killed Alexander.

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