One man charged in shooting to testify

The man who will testify reportedly ran away when the shooting began.

By ED RUNYAN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — A woman and her mother-in-law were driving south on Glenwood Avenue on a November morning last year when they pulled up behind a green, four-door Bonneville at Earle Avenue.

Three men got out, one with an assault rifle and one with a pistol, and they fired into a pickup truck parked at a stop sign. The third man in the Bonneville simply fell to the ground, then got up and ran toward Mill Creek Park without doing anything.

Steven Shandor, an assistant Mahoning County prosecutor, told jurors Tuesday that the testimony of the woman, and testimony of the man who fell down, will convince them that Eric Lewis, 19 of Kenmore Avenue was one of the men who fired fatal shots into Martwain Dill, 29, that day.

Paul Conn, Lewis’ attorney, however, told jurors in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court that Lewis was not the man with the pistol. Though Lewis did walk out of Life Skills Academy on Market Street that morning with two other men involved in the ambush, Lewis did not participate in the shooting, Conn said.

The trial, which began Monday, will resume today.

Shandor said the female witness will testify that she cannot identify the three men in the Bonneville. That’s because she turned her car in the other direction and got away from the scene as soon as the shooting started.

Meanwhile, the man who fell to the ground and then ran away, Keith B. Tillis Jr., 19, of North Lakeview Avenue will tell jurors that Lewis was one of the shooters, Shandor said.

Lewis is charged with aggravated murder and could get life in prison without parole if convicted. An alleged accomplice, Gary Crockett, 29, of Buckeye Circle goes on trial on the same charges in November.

The driver of the car, Bertrum Moore, 18, of Whitney Avenue, was convicted of complicity to aggravated murder in June and sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.

An agreement prosecutors reached with Tillis will allow him to go free if he testifies for the prosecution.

Shandor said videotaped evidence will show that Moore, Tillis and Lewis left Life Skills together Nov. 3.

Tillis will testify, Shandor said, that while driving through the city, Lewis noticed Dill in his pickup truck and called Crockett to tell him: “I just seen the dude we’re looking for. We’re coming to get you.”

The men picked up Crockett, who brought two guns, Shandor said. Those weapons were used to kill Dill, who died immediately from a gunshot wound to the head, Shandor said.

Tillis, however, “had no idea who Martwain Dill was,” Shandor said, and wanted nothing to do with killing him. Tillis is in Mahoning County Jail and is also charged with aggravated murder.

Conn said Lewis did not leave Lifeskills with Tillis and Moore that morning. He did witness the killing and left his cell phone there, but he was not a part of the killing, the defense lawyer added.

As for Tillis, he got a “very lucrative offer” to testify against Lewis, Conn said, “getting his life back.”

The trial is being heard by visiting Judge Charles J. Bannon, sitting by assignment. The case was originally assigned to Judge Maureen Cronin, who retired this summer and was replaced by Judge Timothy Franken.

Judge Franken, former chief trial lawyer for the county prosecutor’s office, recused himself from the case because he had helped prosecute Moore.

runyan@vindy.com