Pair accused in East Side drug ring found guilty

YOUNGSTOWN — Judge John Durkin today found two men accused of being part of an East Side drug ring guilty of several crimes following a bench trial in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Vincent Moorer, 30 and Melvin Johnson Jr., were found guilty of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, felonious assault, attempted murder and other crimes following the trial that began March 2 and ended Thursday.

Moorer was additionally found guilty of aggravated murder and murder for the September, 2012 shooting deaths of Ryan Slade, 20 and Kierra McCullough, 19, who were found shot to death in a car parked on Benford Lane on the East Side.

Prosecutors said Moorer and Johnson began running the ring after a police investigation spawned by two homicides in 2011 focused on the former leader, DeWaylyn Colvin. He will be tried later.

A woman facing similar charges as Moorer and Johnson will also be tried at a later date and two men convicted of Slade and McCullough kurders as well as two other murders were convicted last March.

Sentencing will be at a later date.