Trial in double-homicide postponed

Photo

Lorenza Barnette

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The death-penalty double-murder trial of Lorenza I. Barnette will be postponed for at least four months beyond Sept. 20 — the date that had most recently been set for it.

Judge Lou A. D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court granted the extension, as requested by defense lawyer J. Gerald Ingram, who said he needed more time for a defense expert to evaluate a DNA evidence report he received from the prosecution Tuesday.

That report was prepared by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation.

Also at a Tuesday pre- trial hearing, Judge D’Apolito granted Ingram’s request for up to $5,000 from the county’s indigent defense fund to pay for the defense expert. That money will be fully reimbursed to the county by the state.

Dawn Catalamessa, an assistant county prosecutor, declined to describe the newly presented DNA evidence.

Barnette, 28, of Lora Avenue, is charged with two counts of aggravated murder with death-penalty specifications, two counts each of kidnapping and aggravated robbery, and arson.

Barnette is charged in the Aug. 11, 2009, deaths of Jaron L. Roland, 20, of Fairmont Avenue, and Darry B. Woods-Burt Jr., 19, of the city’s North Side.

The victims, who were described by family members as inseparable first cousins, were found inside a burning car on West Avenue near the Mahoning River. Both men were bound with duct tape and bags had been placed over their heads.

Having determined that both men died of suffocation, the coroner’s office made a preliminary ruling of homicide. No stab or bullet wounds were found on the victims.