2 men arraigned in shooting that killed Warren man, child

By Ed Runyan

The apparent motive for the double homicide was retaliation over $3,000.

WARREN — Two men accused of firing the guns that killed Lloyd McCoy Jr., 11, and Marvin J. Chaney, 26, on April 13 at a house on Wick Street Southeast were arraigned Thursday on charges that could carry possible life-prison sentences without parole — but not the death penalty.

Eugene Henderson, 25, of Lane Drive Southwest, and Eugene Cumberbatch, 26, of Front Street Southwest, were indicted Wednesday by a Trumbull County grand jury on two counts each of aggravated murder and murder and single counts of improperly firing a firearm into a house, felonious assault and being a convicted felon in illegal possession of a firearm.

Most of the charges carry specifications that the crimes were committed with a firearm, which would add three years to their sentences if convicted.

Both men pleaded innocent Thursday before Judge John M. Stuard in common pleas court. Bond was set at $2 million for each.

Cumberbatch returns to court Tuesday for his first pretrial hearing, and Henderson has his first pretrial hearing on Thursday.

Chris Becker, an assistant county prosecutor, said he cannot discuss the reason the grand jury did not indict the men on charges that could result in the death penalty, saying that would involve discussion of the evidence, which he cannot do.

“We present what we feel is the relevant evidence [to the grand jury], but every case is not a capital case,” Becker said.

A third man implicated in the case, Marcus Yager, 22, of Vine Avenue Northeast, has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and obstruction of justice in the case and agreed to testify against Henderson and Cumberbatch if their cases go to trial.

During a preliminary hearing in Warren Municipal Court in May, witnesses described events suggesting that Henderson, Cumberbatch and Yager went to the home of Lloyd’s sister, Brittnay McCoy, which she shared with Chaney. Witnesses said they opened fire on the house while Yager lay on the floor in the back of the car.

The shooting was believed to be retaliation against Chaney for $3,000 that Chaney had taken from Henderson, witnesses said. Lloyd, a sixth-grader at Warren’s Willard K-8 school, was visiting his sister at the time of the 9:50 p.m. shooting and was hit by gunfire, along with Britnay McCoy’s 3-year-old son, who has recovered.

Chaney died at the scene, and Lloyd died in a hospital eight days after the shooting.