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Heard murder trial gets underway
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A 911 caller told dispatchers she did not see who fired the shots that killed a man in a car on East Myrtle Avenue in November 2015.
Jurors in the trial of one of three men charged with the death of 33-year-old Thomas Owens heard tapes of the Nov. 14, 2015, call for a police and ambulance.
“Someone just shot my cousin,” the female caller said Tuesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
“Do you know who shot him?” the female dispatcher replied.
“He’s not breathing,” the caller said.
Jason Heard, 21, is charged with aggravated murder in the death of Owens, who was shot and killed while he was sitting in a car with three other men on East Myrtle Avenue. The other men were not injured. Heard also faces three counts of attempted murder.
A jury was selected Monday before Judge Lou D’Apolito, and testimony began Tuesday after jurors viewed the crime scene.
In November, Leonard Savage, 22, was convicted of complicity to commit aggravated murder and three counts of complicity to attempted murder and was sentenced to 35 years to life in prison.
Prosecutors said Owens was killed because, in 2004, he pleaded guilty to negligent homicide of Savage’s uncle, Richard Owens, no relation to Thomas Owens, after a gun the two were handling went off and Richard Owens died.
The 911 caller told the dispatcher she did not see the shooting because she was asleep in a nearby house but she did hear the shots.
“The shots woke me up,” the caller said.
Also testifying briefly was city police Detective Sgt. Ronald Rodway, who investigated the 2004 case when Thomas Owens pleaded guilty to negligent homicide. Rodway said Thomas Owens was upset about what happened to Richard Owens.
After Rodway, jurors heard from officer Brad Ditullio, who collected evidence at the crime scene, via a video because Ditullio is out of town this week on training. The attorneys arranged for him to testify on video just like he was in a courtroom so jurors could hear his testimony.