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Witness says victim begged for her life
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Antwon Lanier talks to his attorney, James Gentile, in the murder case in Judge John Durkins courtroom.
The victim was raped in South Side Park and shot at McKelvey Lake, prosecutors allege.
YOUNGSTOWN — Sierra Y. Slaton was dragged from a car and into the woods in South Side Park before being taken for a terrifying ride from there to the shore of McKelvey Lake, where multiple gunshots rang out, the driver of the car said in the opening day of testimony in the capital murder trial of Antwon Lanier.
“She was basically begging for her life,” Antwain Blackmon told the six-man, six-woman jury Monday.
Lanier, 25, of Mahoning County Jail, is on trial before Judge John M. Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in the Aug. 6, 2005, shooting death of Slaton, whose body was found floating in McKelvey Lake the following day. Testimony resumes at 9 a.m. today.
Slaton, 19, of Vestal Road, went to the residence of Lanier’s co-defendant, Antonio Jackson, 28, of Summer Street, looking for a male friend, Blackmon testified.
There, Lanier told Slaton he could direct her to where her friend was; and Lanier, Jackson and Blackmon entered the car Slaton was driving, Blackmon said.
Jackson then took a gun off Blackmon’s lap, Blackmon testified. “He put it to the back of the driver’s seat,” Blackmon said. “He told Sierra to stop the car,” Blackmon added.
“He got out of the car, opened the driver’s door, and pulled her out of the car. ... He dragged her out to the woods,” in South Side Park, Blackmon said of Jackson.
About 35 minutes after Jackson left the car with Slaton, Lanier emerged from the car and went into the woods for about 25 to 30 minutes, Blackmon recalled.
Jackson and Lanier, both carrying guns, then returned to the car, with Jackson dragging Slaton and getting into the back seat with her, Blackmon told the jury.
“She was yelling, kicking and screaming,” Blackmon recalled.
At Jackson’s request, Blackmon drove the car to his Lake Drive residence to pick up a .22-caliber rifle, Blackmon said, adding that Jackson and Lanier directed him to McKelvey Lake.
At the lake’s shore, Jackson pulled Slaton out of the car and dragged her down an embankment, Blackmon said, adding that he then heard gunshots.
The coroner’s report said Slaton died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head after being shot at 3:13 a.m. She was shot 10 times in her head, once in her abdomen, and twice in her right leg, the report said.
Lanier and Jackson are charged with the aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, kidnapping and rape of Slaton. The prosecution alleges Lanier, whose DNA was found on Slaton, and Jackson raped Slaton at South Side Park, and that Jackson fatally shot Slaton before dumping her in the lake.
Blackmon, who has pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and kidnapping in this case, said he entered into a plea agreement with the prosecution, under which he agreed to testify against Jackson and Lanier. Blackmon, who is free on bond awaiting sentencing, told the jury his plea deal calls for him to serve 10 years in prison.
Prosecutors say Blackmon never got out of the car during the attacks on Slaton at the park or the lake.
Jackson’s trial is set for Oct. 16.