Testimony presented in shooting death

Two women testified that Moore told them about shooting a man.
By DEBORA SHAULIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Kenneth Smith says he was at home watching an episode of the television drama "ER" on Dec. 11, 2003, when his brother, Robert Smith, called him about meeting at 541 Club, a North Garland Avenue bar on the city's East Side.
Kenneth Smith received another phone call before he left the house from a good friend who said his brother had been shot. Robert Smith died later at St. Elizabeth Health Center.
Kenneth Smith was among those who testified Monday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court as the aggravated-murder trial of Darrin L. Moore began.
Moore, 19, of Willis Avenue, has pleaded innocent to the murder charge, which carries a sentence of 20 years to life if he's convicted, as well as aggravated robbery, two counts of receiving stolen property, escape and failure to comply with a signal of police.
During opening statements before Judge James C. Evans, Dawn Krueger, an assistant county prosecutor, said Moore "made cowardly choices" in fleeing a county Juvenile Justice Center officer after receiving treatment at Forum Health Northside Medical Center in October 2003; shooting Robert Smith in the back after taking keys to the Cadillac that Smith was driving; and leading police on a chase in January 2004 in another car that was reported stolen.
Defense lawyer Michael McBride compared the prosecution's case to a mosaic, with many small stones being turned and molded to make a larger picture. He urged jurors to consider the intent of testifying witnesses, who he said may be gaining favorable treatment.
Testimony
Michael Trolio, a JJC detention officer, testified that Moore was taken to Forum Health Northside with shackles on his ankles Oct. 22, 2003, after Moore complained to a JJC supervisor of leg pain. A doctor applied an air cast to Moore's foot, so the shackles didn't fit anymore, Trolio said.
Trolio was escorting Moore by the arm out of the hospital when Moore dropped his crutches and ran through the parking lot. Trolio chased Moore but lost sight of him in a residential neighborhood and called Youngstown police for help, he said.
Records show that Moore was sent to JJC on charges of gross sexual imposition, felonious assault and more in a separate occurrence in Boardman in September 2003, in which a Lisbon woman was fondled, robbed and hit in the head with a gun. Moore will stand trial later on those crimes.
Youngstown officer Robert Jolliff said Robert Smith's car, which was owned by his brother, was found on fire two days later on Salt Springs Road. Jolliff also had compiled a list of "persons of interest" in Robert Smith's shooting, based on who was at the 541 Club, but he told Atty. Ronald D. Yarwood, who also represents Moore, that Moore wasn't on that list.
Female witnesses
State's witness Shalonda Bohazi, said Moore came to her house carrying a revolver and told her he had shot a man on the South Side.
Shawntae Martinez, a former girlfriend of Moore's who met him through her cousin, Damon Clark, said Moore talked to her about the shooting, but she told McBride that she had "somewhat been pressured" by family members to take Clark's side.
Clark also was arrested for his role in Robert Smith's murder. Complicity to murder and conspiracy to aggravated robbery charges against Clark were dropped, and he pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property in September 2004. He will be sentenced after Moore's trials are finished.
shaulis@vindy.com