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Victim’s mother testifies in murder case
YOUNGSTOWN
Testimony in the murder trial of a 25-year-old city man began with emotional words from the mother of his alleged victim and a taped 911 call made by the victim’s family.
Reginald Everson is on trial on the aggravated-murder charge with life specifications before Judge Lou A. D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Prosecutors con- tend Everson, while free on $15,000 bond for his involvement in a 2007 robbery case, shot and killed 18-year-old Terrell Roland of East Avondale Avenue in Roland’s driveway in March 2008.
Carol Roland, Terrell’s mother, took the stand early Tuesday and gave the jury of six men and six woman a tearful account of what took place the day her youngest son was killed.
Carol Roland said her husband of 35 years had gone to work and she attended church earlier that day, then went to Walmart to buy items for Terrell, who was headed back to the Columbus area for school.
She said Terrell had gotten into some trouble here and was sent to Columbus to finish his last year of high school without problems.
Carol Roland, who is also a foster mother, said when she arrived home, Terrell and his friend Mickele Glenn were standing in the driveway talking while the younger foster children were playing in the backyard.
She went inside and was sitting at the kitchen table when she heard the shots that took her son’s life.
Carol Roland testified she came outside, knelt down and cradled her son in her arms as he slipped in and out of conscious. She said one of the last things Terrell said to her was “call the police. Reg just shot me.”
Carol Roland and her daughter did call 911 and that recorded tape was played in court for the jury. On the tape, Carol could be heard pleading with the 911 dispatcher to send help and pleading with her son not to die. She also is heard speaking with her son and identifying Reginald Everson to the 911 operator as the person who shot him.
Rhys Cartwright-Jones, representing Everson, on cross-examination questioned Carol Roland on her son’s ability to speak at the time he was shot.
Also, Glenn, who was standing outside with her son, initially said he did not know what happened before ultimately identifying Everson as the shooter.
Much of the trial testimony will center on Glenn, who was armed and wearing a bulletproof vest at the time of the shooting.
In his opening statement, Martin Desmond, an assistant county prosecutor, said there is no question that Everson drove past the Avondale home in a black Buick, stopped and fired several shots. He said Everson was actually gunning for Glenn, with whom he has had an ongoing feud.
“There evidence will show that the driver of the Buick Regal who fired those two shots is Reginald Everson,” Desmond.
Cartwright-Jones and co-defense counsel Edward Czopur argue that Glenn may bear more responsibility for the shooting and murder than anyone is willing to acknowledge.
“Mickele Glenn brought that gun to the scene for the same reason anyone would bring a gun — because they thought they might have to use it. ... The wrong person is on trial here,” Czopur said.
Desmond said police have confirmed the gun Glenn was carrying was never fired during the incident.
Everson is already in prison on a charge stemming from the robbery of the Auto Zone store in May 2007.
He had been charged with murder and aggravated robbery in the shooting death of Edward Agee, a store employee, during a robbery attempt at the business on McCartney Road on the East Side. The murder charge and a gun specification subsequently were dropped under a plea agreement.
Everson, who was sentenced in December 2010, is serving a 10-year term on the aggravated-robbery charge.