Court filing: Hamad and victim had knives

WARREN — Assistant prosecutors handling the Nasser Hamad aggravated murder case revealed in a recent court filing one of the five people who went to Hamad’s house in a dispute that turned deadly had a knife – and so did Hamad.

Two of the five died from gunfire that police said came from Hamad. The three others were injured by gunfire but survived. Hamad, 48, of state Route 46 in Howland, goes on trial Oct. 11 in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court on aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder – charges that could produce the death penalty if he’s convicted.

The filing, by assistant prosecutors Chris Becker and Mike Burnett, gives new details of the events after a fistfight in the front yard of Hamad’s home between Hamad and John Shively, 17.

Shively and the four others who were with him walked from the front of Hamad’s house after the fistfight and returned to their van near Route 46.

The filing says Hamad went into the house, got a handgun and went back outside. Hamad told police he did this with the intention to “hold [the five] because they needed to pay.”

For the complete story, read Tuesday's Vindicator and Vindy.com