Jury finds man, 18, complicit in death

One prosecutor said Bertrum Moore had to be part of a
getaway plan.

By ED RUNYAN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — The 18-year-old city man who admitted being the driver Nov. 3 when passengers in his car gunned down Martwain J. Dill on Glenwood Avenue was convicted of complicity to aggravated murder.

Bertrum Moore of Whitney Avenue showed no reaction Friday afternoon as the jury read the verdict, which could result in a prison sentence of 20 or more years. He will be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. Monday.

The jury of five men and seven women deliberated about 31⁄2 hours before reaching its decision in the courtroom of Judge Maureen A. Cronin in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

During closing arguments earlier Friday in the four-day trial, Moore’s attorney, David Engler of Boardman, said Moore admitted that he knew some of the men in his car that day were planning to kill Dill.

But Engler said the prosecution had to show that Moore shared the same intent to kill Dill as the men who actually fired weapons.

Moore did not share that same intent, Engler argued, pointing to Moore’s statement to him that he hoped and prayed that he would not find Dill as he drove three men around in his car.

Prosecutor Steve Shandor told jurors during closing arguments, however, that Moore’s actions demonstrated his guilt, and that it is not necessary to prove Moore had a motive for wanting Dill dead.

What happened

Shandor said Moore left Life Skills Academy with fellow student Eric Lewis, 18, of Kenmore Avenue, and Keith B. Tillis Jr., 18, of North Lakeview Avenue, that morning when classes let out early.

While Moore drove, Lewis spotted Dill and called Gary Crockett, 29, of Buckeye Circle, and told him, “I just seen the dude we’re looking for. I’m coming to get you,” Shandor said.

When the men spotted Dill later at the intersection of Glenwood and Earle avenues on the city’s South Side, Lewis, Crockett and Tillis got out, and at least two of the men shot at Dill, killing him instantly with a shot to the head.

Engler said Moore drove the car a short distance away from the crime scene and later allowed Crockett back into his car — but only because Crockett appeared in his rear view mirror a short time later holding an assault rifle.

Timothy Franken, chief trial lawyer in the county prosecutor’s office, said it is foolish to suggest Moore was not part of a prior plan to pick up one or more of the shooters after the shooting.

Saying Crockett “has experience” with such violence and noting that the shooting took place at 11 a.m., Franken asked the jury: “Do you think he [Moore] is gonna shoot someone with an assault rifle and not have an escape plan? No.”

Christina Dill of Youngstown, the victim’s mother, said she was pleased that Moore had been convicted.

“It will not bring my son back, but it will support justice because not only was his life taken, but a part of my life, too,” she said.

runyan@vindy.com