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Co-defendant says he bound murder victim’s hands
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A former co-defendant of a man on trial in an August 2016 homicide described matter-of-factly how he bound the victim’s hands and feet with electrical cord before the defendant hauled the man to the basement of his Palmer Avenue home, where police said Howard Ramey was stabbed more than 25 times.
Calvin Shelton, 28, testified Tuesday before Judge Maureen Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in the trial of Wallace Lewis, also 28, that Lewis and Ramey, 53, were arguing Aug. 9, 2016, in Ramey’s home before Lewis began punching Ramey. When Ramey fell, Lewis kicked him before Ramey appeared to be knocked out.
Shelton testified he bound Ramey’s feet and hands with electrical cord from a speaker in the living room.
He said Lewis then dragged Ramey downstairs, then came back upstairs a few minutes later. Shelton also testified he never saw a weapon on Lewis.
“Do you know what happened down there?” Assistant Prosecutor Rob Andrews asked Shelton.
“No, I don’t,” Shelton answered. “Nor did I see what happened down there.”
Lewis faces charges of murder and tampering with evidence in Ramey’s death. The trial began Monday.
Shelton pleaded guilty to lesser charges in exchange for a four-year sentence and agreed to testify against Lewis. Another former co-defendant, Felicia Ward, 25, also agreed to testify against Lewis.
Shelton said he tied Ramey up because he thought they were going to take the furniture in his home, but instead he testified Lewis took him into the basement and they left the furniture there when they left the home.
Lewis’ attorney, David Engler, told jurors Monday during his opening statement that Shelton and Ward both framed Lewis for the murder because they did not want to go to prison.
A friend of Ward’s, Tracy Mitchell, testified Ward sold her a set of furniture in the home for $180 shortly after Ramey was killed, but she did not know Ramey had died. His body was still in the basement when she and her boyfriend went to get the furniture.
When she returned to her apartment with the furniture, Mitchell testified Lewis was there with Floyd.
“Wallace [Lewis] made a statement when I came back, did I hear any moaning, did I hear anything from the basement,” Mitchell testified. She said she did not hear anything coming from the basement.
Under cross-examination, Engler pointed out several inconsistencies in her statements to police and her testimony, including telling detectives she did not know Ward’s last name even though they were lifelong friends.
Testifying before Shelton and Mitchell was crime lab officer Greg Miller of the city police department, who collected evidence at the scene.