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PROSECUTOR: 2 convicted of murders tied to East Side drug ring by far 'worst of the worst'
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Assistant Mahoning County Prosecutor Martin Desmond says the two men jurors found guilty Thursday in common pleas court for their roles as enforcers in a drug ring are the worst he has ever prosecuted.
Michael Austin, 22, was found guilty of three counts of aggravated murder for the deaths of Adam Christian, 23, and Raymond “Ramel” Hayes, 20, on Nov. 11 and 13, 2011, and the death of 20-year-old Ryan Slade in September 2011, as well as murder for the death of Keara McCullough, 19, who was killed along with Slade in a car on Benford Lane.
Hakeem Henderson, 24, was found guilty of aggravated murder for the deaths of Christian and Hayes and not guilty in the deaths of Slade and McCullough.
Prosecutors said the two were enforcers for an East Side drug ring and the killings were carried out at the behest of the leaders of the ring.
“These guys are by far the worst of the worst,” Desmond said. “These are the types of guys, if they got out, they’d do it again.”
Jurors also found the pair guilty of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.
Austin was found not guilty of attempted murder for a Dec. 23, 2012, shooting on the South Side.
The pair were not indicted until May 2013.
Jurors began hearing testimony April 26 and received the case to deliberate about 2:10 p.m. Wednesday. They reached their verdicts about 5 p.m. Thursday after deliberating all day. Sentencing is tentatively set for Monday.
Prosecutors said Christian was the former leader of the Vic Boyz street gang. Hayes, who they said helped lure Christian to his death, was killed because it was feared he was talking too much. Slade was killed because he slapped the girlfriend of one of the leaders of the ring, Vincent Moorer, 33, in a bar. McCullough was an innocent bystander who was in the wrong place at the wrong time when she was killed.
After the verdicts were reached, Desmond and his co-counsel, Assistant Prosecutors Nick Brevetta and Michael Yacovone, embraced family members who were sobbing with joy. Sally Cox, Hayes’ grandmother, said the ordeal was a nightmare.
“I don’t wish this on any family in the world,” Cox said. “It’s devastating.”
Prosecutors said Austin carried out the killings and Henderson was the driver. Defense attorneys said prosecutors relied on the testimony of people who would tell investigators whatever they wanted to hear in exchange for lighter sentences in other cases. Defense lawyers declined to comment after the verdicts came in.
Desmond credited police Detective Sgt. Pat Kelly, one of the lead investigators on the case; Brevetta and Yacovone; officer Bob Patton and his brother, Detective Sgt. John Patton; and Detective Sgt. Ron Rodway for their work on the case. Desmond said the case was stressful, especially because it took so long to go to trial.
“It was taxing on all of us,” Desmond said.
Trials for Moorer, Dwaylyn Colvin, 32, and two others for their roles in the case are expected to take place later.