Paige on trial again in North side shooting death over electricity

YOUNGSTOWN — For the second time, a man is on trial in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for a 2012 death of a man on the North Side that police said started over stolen electricity.

Opening statements and testimony began Thursday before Judge Maureen Sweeney in the case against Michael Paige, 26, who is accused of killing Munir Blake, 31, March 1, 2012, during an argument over electricity in a Lora Avenue apartment building.

Paige was tried on the charges in 2014, and jurors found him not guilty of aggravated murder. The jurors, however, deadlocked on charges of murder, voluntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence. Prosecutors opted to retry him for murder.

Read more about the case in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.