Summit Co. jury convicts local man of 2 slayings

Authorities are looking for another Youngstown man in the case.

AKRON BEACON JOURNAL

AKRON — A 19-year-old Youngstown man was convicted by a Summit County jury Wednesday of two counts of aggravated murder for the New Year’s Day slayings of two people in the parking lot of an Akron strip club.

Marquez B. Perry could face life in prison without parole when he is sentenced Oct. 29 by Common Pleas Judge Elinore Marsh Stormer.

The victims, Scott E. Smith, 33, of Akron, and Tammy S. Dickey, 30, of Youngstown, were shot multiple times inside a red 1997 Chevrolet Blazer during a botched drug deal in the parking lot of the East Market Street club.

In other developments in the case, Akron police Wednesday morning arrested a second suspect in the slayings — Kaqun Slocum, 18, of the Youngstown area. He had an outstanding warrant for two counts of aggravated murder, prosecutors said.

From the outset of Perry’s double-murder trial, which began Oct. 6, prosecutors and defense lawyers said there was another person in the Blazer who was responsible for shooting Smith. But Akron and Youngstown police had been unable to find him, according to trial testimony.

Defense lawyer Jason Wells referred to the suspect as the “Mystery Man,” and in Perry’s testimony Tuesday, he said he knew the suspect only by his first name, Brian.

But as Perry was being cross-examined, Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Becky Doherty used Perry’s cell phone records in the hours before the Jan. 1 shooting to demonstrate for the jury that Perry had called someone referred to as “Sloc” in his contacts list.

As Doherty’s cross-examination continued, Perry acknowledged that the “Sloc” listing referred to a Youngstown acquaintance named Kaqun Slocum.

Youngstown police officials said this afternoon they had no information about Slocum in their arrest records.

Akron police detective Franklin Harrah was with Slocum much of the day and was continuing to question him about the case, according to an officer in the Akron detective bureau.

The jury, made up of nine men and three women, took a little more than three hours to return their verdicts against Perry. He also was convicted of two counts of murder, aggravated robbery, two counts of tampering with evidence and various gun specifications.