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Investigator testifies in East Side, murder, drug case
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
One of the lead investigators in the case against two men accused of being enforcers for a drug ring on the East Side testified Friday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
City police Detective Sgt. Pat Kelly investigated two of the four homicides that Michael Austin, 22, and Hakeem Henderson, 24, are charged with: the Nov. 13, 2011, murder of Adam Christian, 23, outside an apartment on Woodcrest Avenue; and Raymond “Ramel” Hayes, 23, who was found Nov. 16, 2011, shot several times at Gerwig and Knapp streets.
For the first time since the trial began Tuesday, prosecutors also began presenting evidence in the other two homicides the pair are accused of committing: murders of Ryan Keith Slade, 20, and Keara McCullough, 19, in a car on Benford Lane in September of 2012.
Judge John M. Durkin is hearing the case.
Four other people also are charged involving their roles in the case, including Vincent Moorer, 32, and Dwaylyn Colvin, 33, who prosecutors said were leaders of the ring. They will be tried at a later date.
Kelly was the detective on call the night Christian was murdered, and he also assisted the detective who investigated the death of Hayes, Detective Sgt. John Patton.
Kelly said that the names of Austin and Hayes had come up early in the investigation of Christian’s death, before Hayes was also killed. Prosecutors said Hayes was killed because it was thought he may talk to authorities.
Also testifying Friday was a witness who told jurors some information about the deaths of Slade and McCullough. The witness said that Slade was killed because he slapped a woman who was friends with Moorer, and that McCullough was an innocent bystander.
In certain circumstances, prosecutors have requested The Vindicator withhold names of witnesses.
Since testimony began Tuesday, jurors have heard almost exclusively about the deaths of Christian and Hayes, Friday was the first they had heard of the murders of Slade and McCullough.
The witness said he held guns and drugs for Moorer at certain times and that after Slade slapped Moorer’s friend, Moorer asked for the guns the witness was holding. A couple of days after that, Slade and McCullough were killed, the witness testified.
The witness also said that Moorer referred to Henderson and Austin as “Big Psycho” and “Little Psycho.”
The witness testified Moorer said he did not pull the trigger when Slade and McCullough were killed.
“He [Moorer] said, ‘You know, I don’t get my hands dirty. I got people to take care of that,’” the witness testified.
Under cross-examination from Austin’s attorney, Ed Hartwig, the witness admitted he did not tell police about Slade’s murder until he was facing drug charges of his own, which was more than a year later.
Court was delayed for about an hour Friday for reasons that were unexplained. The courtroom was cleared except for attorneys and the defendants and closed.
During that time, a woman who was in the room where witnesses were being kept was wheeled out on a stretcher by paramedics. Testimony also has been interrupted several times each day by attorneys asking to speak to the judge in sidebar conferences.