Trial underway in 2016 felonious-assault case

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Trial proceedings began Monday in the case of a man accused of beating a man into a coma at a Boardman home-improvement store.

Brian Murray, 57, of Canfield Road, faces one count of felonious assault in the July 14, 2016, beating that security cameras caught on video. Murray said the victim owed him money.

The victim remained in a coma for three weeks of a five-week hospitalization, his wife said.

Murray rejected a plea deal in which the prosecutor agreed to recommend a four-year prison sentence.

“I can’t do four years. I have a 16-year-old son,” Murray said at a September hearing.

If convicted by the jury, Murray could serve up to eight years in prison.Judge John M. Durkin presides over the trial in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

The prosecution will call witnesses when proceedings resume at 8:45 a.m. today.