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9 to face their fate in ’11 capital cases
YOUNGSTOWN
Nine men are facing the death penalty in five aggravated murder cases as 2011 begins in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
That’s the largest number of capital case defendants simultaneously awaiting trial here that Atty. Thomas E. Zena, lead counsel in three of the pending capital cases, can recall in his 34 years of law practice.
It’s also the largest number Sheriff Randall Wellington can recall in his 53 years in Mahoning Valley law enforcement.
“Usually, we present the death specification in the most horrendous of cases, where we have good evidence,” said Dawn Cantalamessa, chief trial lawyer in the county prosecutor’s criminal division, who is assigned to all five pending cases.
“We believe, at this stage of the proceedings, that we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating factors, and that’s the law,” said her boss, county Prosecutor Paul J. Gains.
“As long as we have the death penalty statute on the books, we’re going to enforce it,” Gains added.
The oldest of the pending cases dates back to 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 suffocation victims, described by family members as inseparable cousins, were found inside a burning car on West Avenue near the Mahoning River, both bound with duct tape and with bags over their heads.
Facing the death penalty in that double murder are Lorenza I. Barnette, 28, of Lora Avenue; Joseph Moreland, 28, of county jail; and Kenneth Moncrief, 26, of Fairgreen Avenue. They’re charged with aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, kidnapping and arson.
In another capital case, Shawn E. Davis, 25, of Compass West, Austintown, is charged in the death of 23-month-old Makenzie McBride. The toddler died of blunt-force trauma April 6 after suffering a skull fracture and severe bruising on her face.
That case is first on the death-penalty docket in 2011, with the jury trial scheduled to begin before Judge Maureen A. Sweeney on Jan. 10.
The baby’s mother, Shannon McBride, 22, of North Navarre Avenue, who is Davis’ former girlfriend, was initially charged with aggravated murder with a death-penalty specification.
However, she pleaded guilty in June to obstructing justice and permitting child abuse and agreed to testify truthfully against Davis.
McBride is free on her own recognizance pending her sentencing and may not leave Mahoning County without Judge Sweeney’s permission. The prosecution is recommending that she be sentenced to prison for eight years.
In another case, Robert S. Brooks, 25, of Castalia Avenue, Youngstown, and Grant P. Cooper, 21, of Sulgrave Drive, Brookfield, are facing the death penalty in the Sept. 20 murder of Vivian Martin, 67, a real estate broker, who was killed in an East Side house.
Martin’s badly burned body was found inside a Nelson Avenue house that had been set afire.
Brooks and Cooper, who had no prior criminal records, face aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated arson and kidnapping charges in Martin’s death.
“They both confessed, so we’re pretty much ready to go,” to trial, Cantalamessa said of the Brooks and Cooper cases.
The only significant remaining issue in their cases is the appointment of defense experts, who will assist in the defense lawyers’ effort to convince the jury and judge to spare their clients from the death penalty, she said.
Zena, who is Cooper’s lead lawyer, declined to comment on Cantalamessa’s observation.
Also facing the death penalty are suspects in the murders of two parishioners at St. Dominic Church on the city’s South Side.
Jamar Houser, 19, of Volney Road, is charged with aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and illegal gun possession in the Jan. 23 shooting death of Angeline Fimognari, 80, of Sheridan Road, in the church parking lot after she had attended Mass.
Charged in the Sept. 25 drive-by shooting death of another St. Dominic parishioner, Thomas Repchic, 74, of Trenton Avenue, were Aubrey F. Toney, 29, of Youngstown, who was the suspected triggerman, and Kevin D. Agee Jr., 25, of West Ravenwood Avenue, who prosecutors claim drove the SUV from which Toney fired.
Agee and Toney are charged with aggravated murder with death- penalty specifications in Repchic’s death and attempted murder and felonious assault in the wounding of Repchic’s wife, Jacqueline, 74, a passenger in the car Repchic was driving when he was shot.
The shooting occurred at Southern Boulevard and Philadelphia Avenue just after the Repchics had left the church.
Police believe the shooting was a case of mistaken identity in a feud between rival factions, and they said the car Repchic was driving a car that was similar to that of someone with whom Toney and Agee had been feuding.
Youngstown police arrested Agee three days after the shooting, but Toney was apprehended near Atlanta four weeks after the murder.