MURDER TRIAL Witness tells of seeing suspect

One witness said he saw Drummond carrying a gun but didn't see him fire it.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- As William Greer watched a crowd partying in the street outside his East Side house last spring, he sensed that something bad was going to happen.
When he saw two men get out of a car carrying guns, he was sure of it.
"I went in the house and told my wife that there was some bull---- gonna happen," Greer said Tuesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Greer was among the witnesses called to testify Tuesday in the trial of John Drummond Jr., accused of firing gunshots that fatally wounded 3-month-old Jiyen C. Dent Jr. in March 2003.
The trial was to continue today in the courtroom of Judge Maureen A. Cronin.
Aggravated murder charge
Drummond, 26, is charged with aggravated murder. He could be sentenced to death if he is convicted. He also is charged with attempted aggravated murder, felonious assault and improperly firing a firearm into a home.
Greer lives on Duncan Lane, just a few houses away from the Rutledge Drive house where the shooting occurred. He said about 15 people were partying in the street in front of his house that night.
Greer said he alternated between watching from his front porch and watching out a window from inside the house.
"I was just wishing the madness would go away," he said. "I just had a feeling that something was going to happen."
Later that night, he saw a car pull into the driveway of a house two doors away from his own. He saw Drummond get out of the passenger door carrying a "long gun," which he held at his side, Greer said. The driver of the car, Wayne Gilliam, also got out, and the two walked toward Rutledge.
About 10 or 15 minutes later, Greer heard "big gunshots ... loud," he said. He said he did not see who fired the shots or where they were fired.
Police say Drummond stood across the street and fired about 10 shots from an assault rifle into the Rutledge Drive house where the baby lived with his parents, Jiyen C. Dent Sr. and LaToya Butler. One of the bullets ripped through the walls and struck the baby in the head. The parents were home but were not shot.
Authorities have not found the gun that was used in the shooting, but 10 spent shell casings from an assault rifle were found in a yard across the street from the house.
Gilliam was tried last year and convicted of charges identical to Drummond's. He was sentenced to 54 years in prison.
Prosecutor's statement
In his opening statement Monday, assistant prosecutor Timothy Franken said Drummond believed Jiyen C. Dent Sr. was responsible for killing one of Drummond's friends in 1998.
"This was retaliation," Franken told jurors.
Damian D. Williams, 26, of Ohio Avenue was charged with assaulting a police officer after an occurrence outside the courtroom Tuesday afternoon.
Because the spectator area of the courtroom was nearly full, Judge Cronin asked deputies to identify family members who were in the hallway and wanted to watch the trial so they could be admitted ahead of others.
While deputies were asking spectators for their names, Williams pushed FBI officer Michael Cizmar, who immediately tackled and handcuffed Williams.
bjackson@vindy.com