43
Jurors selected for trial of 2 men charged in rash of E. Side killings
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A jury was selected Monday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in the trial of two men accused of a string of homicides on the East Side dating back to 2011.
Opening statements will be today in the courtroom of Judge John M. Durkin as jurors hear the cases against Michael Austin, 22, and Hakeem Henderson, 24, who face several charges, including four counts of aggravated murder.
The two were indicted in March 2013 in the slayings of Adam Christian, 23, former leader of the Vic Boyz street gang, and Raymond “Remel” Hayes. They were killed Nov. 13 and 16, 2011, respectively, on the East Side.
The pair also face charges in the September 2012 killings of Ryan Slade, 20, and Keara McCullough, 19, who were found shot to death in a car on Benford Lane, also on the East Side.
Four others are indicted with Henderson and Austin in some of the same crimes. All six people also face charges of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, which an indictment says consisted of selling drugs and committing murders and attempting to commit murders.
Authorities said all six were part of a drug ring that made more than $1 million in profits when it operated, and also shot at several other people.
Also facing charges in the case are Vincent Moorer, 32; Dwaylyn Colvin, 34; Nahdia Baker, 29; and Melvin Johnson, 31. Moorer, Baker and Johnson were added to the case in May, when they were indicted by a grand jury.
Authorities have said that Colvin was the ringleader of the purported criminal activity. He is serving a prison sentence on unrelated drug charges. Colvin also is charged with the same four homicides as Austin and Henderson.
Detectives have said that the slayings took place as Colvin was trying to control and protect his drug dealing. Hayes was killed just days after Christian’s death because he was in on the killing and bragged about it, police said, so he was killed to silence him. His body was found on Gerwig Avenue with several gunshot wounds to the head.
Police said Slade had been targeted several times before he was killed. They said McCullough was an innocent bystander who happened to be in his car when he was shot dead.