Jason Drummond

Jason Drummond

“Not long enough for killing my son.”
That’s the post Jason Drummond put on Facebook May 13, after learning that Joseph S. Rosario, 25, had
pleaded guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter with a firearms specification, carrying a concealed
weapon and improperly handling a firearm in a motor vehicle, and been sentenced to 17 years in prison in
the death of Jason C. Drummond Jr., 24.
Rosario was standing on the roadway July 27, 2018, in the 7800 block of Warren Sharon Road and fired
several shots at a car containing Drummond. One of the shots hit Drummond in the head, and he died
later in a hospital.
“When I got the call to tell me of the plea deal, I cried and kept it to myself,” Drummond’s mother, Stacey
Culp Rasberry, posted on Facebook on May 13. “Now knowing it’s done, I’m numb, except for the painful
ache where my heart used to be. I have no words. I pray that God and our universe provide all that is
needed for me to get through this. My son Jason Drummond Jr. mattered, his life mattered.”
Drummond and Rosario once were friends, but Rosario became angered upon learning that Drummond
had robbed Paul Yassall of Warren Sharon Road, Brookfield, according to the police report that was made
public after the plea.

Joseph S. Rosario-contributed photo

Joseph S. Rosario-contributed photo

According to the report:
Yassall said he had met Drummond’s girlfriend, Rebecca M. Mittelmeier, about three or four days before
the shooting, and that she had called him earlier the evening of the shooting looking for a ride, police said.
He brought her to his house.
Yassall said they talked for a while but he wanted to go to bed, so he asked Mittelmeier what she was
going to do. She made phone calls and soon the doorbell rang. Drummond entered the home.
Yassall said he was familiar with Drummond, but only knew him as “Breez.” Drummond had a knife in
his hand and demanded money and drugs. When Drummond searched Yassall’s pockets, Yassall attacked
him, Yassall said.
They fought for a while, but Drummond left, Yassall said, adding that he believes Mittelmeier stole
money from elsewhere in the house while he fought with Drummond.
Yassall told police he did not call police because his didn’t need the attention.
Yassall had been on the phone with a woman who had been driving Rosario at the time that Drummond
entered. The woman said she was parked in Sharon waiting for Roasrio to come out of a bar while she
was talking to Yassall, and could hear the knock on Yassall’s door, a man yelling, “Babe,” and the fight.
promoRosario and a lady friend returned to the car, and the woman, who had the phone on speaker mode, told
Rosario that she was on the phone with Yassall, who told police he had known Rosario for many years.
The woman said she and Rosario heard Yassall yell, “It’s Breezy. He’s got a knife. Call the cops.”
Rosario grabbed the phone and told the woman to start driving, yelling at her when she suggested they
call police. They were driving westbound on Warren Sharon Road toward Yassall’s house when they saw
a vehicle coming eastbound. Rosario told her to stop and block the road, the woman said. When the
woman said she did not want to stop, Rosario took out a gun, cocked it and pointed it toward her legs.
The woman said she stopped the vehicle. Rosario got out and went to the front of the car. He fired five or
six shots at the oncoming car. Rosario’s lady friend asked Rosario if he hit “him” and Rosario responded,
“Hell, yeah, I did.”
The woman said she dropped off Rosario and his friend at their apartment in the 7900 block of Warren
Sharon Road.
Drummond had been driving, but Mittelmeier, who was with him, drove to a home on Brookfield Avenue
after the shooting, and police were called from there.
Brookfield police obtained an arrest warrant on Aug. 10, 2018, but Rosario had abandoned his apartment
by the time police went looking for him.
New York City police arrested Rosario Aug. 28, 2020, during the investigation of a narcotics case.
Brookfield police took custody of Rosario on Oct. 26, and brought him back to Ohio.