YOUNGSTOWN Man blames other suspect in kicking-death trial

Christopher Love said people who identified him as the killer were lying.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- After a week of hearing other people blame him for the death of Olivia Hubbert, Christopher Love pointed a finger at someone else.
From the witness stand in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, Love said it was Robert Blackshear, not him, who kicked Hubbert in the head so many times that she died of her injuries.
"Black just started kicking her," Love said. "I just stood there and watched."
Prosecutors say Hubbert died later that night, asphyxiated by crushed bones in her neck. Love, 26, and Blackshear, 44, are both on trial in her murder.
Testimony in the trial ended Wednesday, with Love the last witness to be called. Blackshear did not testify.
After hearing summations from the attorneys, the eight-man, four-woman jury was sent home for the evening by Judge Robert Lisotto. They were to begin deliberating today.
Testimony
Love said he'd been drinking and smoking marijuana for nearly 18 hours when he saw Blackshear arguing with 44-year-old Hubbert outside a Victory Annex housing complex building around 5 a.m. July 5, 1999.
Victory Annex, a government-subsidized housing complex, is bounded by Stewart and Magnolia avenues on the city's East Side.
Love said the argument was over money Blackshear said he was owed from Hubbert. When Love made "a smart remark" to Hubbert, she turned and spit in his face, he said.
Angered, he put his hand on her face and pushed her to the ground. He says that's where his involvement ended.
He said Blackshear immediately started kicking Hubbert in the head, leaving her unconscious but alive. At Blackshear's order, Love picked up the injured woman and carried her to her apartment nearby.
Love said he didn't try to stop Blackshear from kicking the woman because he "didn't want to get mixed up in someone else's fight."
Other witnesses
His testimony contradicted that of several eyewitnesses who testified during the trial that it was Love, not Blackshear, who attacked Hubbert.
"They were all lying," Love said.
He admitted lying to police during two statements he made about the case but said he was not lying in court.
"I'm telling the truth," he told his attorney, Paul Conn. "I got nothing to lose."
Love told Blackshear's attorney, Dennis DiMartino, and assistant prosecutor Robert Andrews that he lied to police because he was afraid Blackshear would harm his family.
bjackson@vindy.com