Friday, March 24, 2006
The key witness has disappeared, the prosecutor's office said.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A city man originally charged with capital murder pleaded guilty to reduced charges, including manslaughter, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
David Nolan Hollie, 26, of Porter Street, received the sentence this week in the Trumbull County Common Pleas courtroom of Judge W. Wyatt McKay for the Oct. 22, 2005, crimes.
According to court documents, Hollie went into a residence at 422 Summit St. carrying a small pistol. He shot Angeline Lavine, 37, of Scott Street Northeast, who was seated in a chair, in the head. He then took a revolver, purse and drugs from Lavine.
In November, prosecutors dropped the capital murder specifications. Chris Becker, assistant Trumbull County prosecutor, said one reason was because it was determined that Lavine also had a firearm in her possession at the time of her death.
Hollie fled after the shooting, hid guns outside 171 Belmont N.W. and went to 211 Porter St. N.E. and changed clothes, the documents state.
After interviewing witnesses and conducting a preliminary investigation, police said they arrested Hollie at his residence within an hour after the shooting.
He was initially jailed on a felonious-assault charge, but the charge was increased to aggravated murder after Lavine died.
Witness disappears
Becker said a witness outside the Summit Street residence described hearing Hollie admit to having shot Lavine and also led police to the location of the firearm.
The witness disappeared, however, and Judge McKay issued a material witness warrant for him Feb. 8. He has not been found, Becker said.
Also, testing on the gun did not show Hollie's DNA.
Either DNA on the gun or the statement of the witness would have likely produced a murder conviction, Becker said, but without either one, such a conviction would have been difficult.
Hollie pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter with firearm specifications, aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, having weapons under disability (having a gun after being convicted of a felony) and tampering with evidence.
A private attorney, John Fowler, represented Hollie in court because the public defender's office had a conflict of interest and could not take the case. This was because the office had represented or was representing many of the witnesses in the case, Becker said.
runyan@vindy.com