Jury finds Jason Heard guilty in murder case

YOUNGSTOWN — Michael Rich, a Mahoning County assistant prosecutor, said the video in the trial of a man accused of a November 2015 murder on a South Side street doesn’t lie, but the defendant does.

A jury apparently believed Rich, after they found 21-year-old Jason Heard guilty this afternoon of complicity to commit aggravated murder and three counts of complicity to commit attempted murder for the Nov. 14, 2015, shooting death of Thomas Owens, 33, as he sat in a car with three other men on East Myrtle Avenue.

Sentencing will be at a later date.

During closing arguments in common pleas court Heard's aggravated murder and attempted murder trial, Rich said video shows Heard holding a gun outside a South Side bar and shows him getting into a car that prosecutors say was involved in the murder of Owens.

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