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Closing arguments given in Agee trial
YOUNGSTOWN
The jury in a murder trial that could send 26-year-old Kevin Agee of Youngstown to death row began a second day of deliberations today.
Agee is charged in the Sept. 25, 2010, shooting death of Thomas Repchic, 74, and the wounding of his wife, Jacqueline, on the city’s South Side. Mrs. Repchic, 75, lost her leg as a result of the shooting.
Police and prosecutors believe the shooting was a case of mistaken identity. They say Agee and co-defendant Aubrey Toney were looking to shoot two other men who drove a Cadillac identical to that of the Repchics.
Toney is set for trial at a later date.
The seven-man, five-woman jury began deliberations Tuesday afternoon in the courtroom of Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. They were to resume at 9 a.m. today.
The trial has been ongoing for two weeks, but prosecutors and defense attorneys wrapped up their cases with closing statements to jurors Tuesday morning.
Jurors deliberated until about 5:30 p.m. when Judge Sweeney sequestered them for the evening at a local hotel.
Dawn Cantalamessa, an assistant county prosecutor, told jurors Agee, while not believed to be the shooter, admits certain elements in the crime that make him an accomplice to the shooting.
He admits being in the car as the driver, knowing about the ill feelings between Toney and the other men, hanging out with Toney daily, and knowing the size of the gun used in the shooting, she said.
“He is as guilty as Aubrey Toney for being complicit in this aggravated murder,” she said. “They shared a common plan. ... When you look at all the evidence, I am sure you will find the defendant guilty.”
Atty. James Gentile, who with Atty. Rhys Cartwright-Jones is representing Agee, told jurors they cannot lump Agee with Toney in the commission of the shooting. The defense lawyers have said Agee is a witness to the shooting, but not guilty of planning or executing the crime.
“This is a very horrible tragedy for the Repchic family; that has not been disputed,” Gentile said. “We don’t want another tragedy in this case by finding someone guilty of this when he is not [guilty].”
Gentile said prosecutors need to show Toney and Agee shared a common intent to do harm, but there was no intent on the part of his client to do so. He said Agee was not part of any “beef” between Toney and the other two men nor did he bring the gun used in the shooting into the car.
“They [prosecutors] have tried to cloud the issue, but hopefully this jury will conclude that Aubrey Toney is the principal [offender] in this case,” he said.
Cantalamessa reminded jurors Agee was sending “warnings” out to others implicated in the case after his arrest, discussing what officers might know, and calling those who spoke to police “rats.”
She also questioned why Agee and Toney would switch cars the day of the shootings if they were only planning to buy marijuana and watch football. She said the plan all along was to do harm.