Victim’s girlfriend testifies in bar shooting trial

By Joe Gorman

jgorman@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Casey Pemberton testified in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court she had a bad feeling when her boyfriend Colin Brown went into a restroom in a South Avenue bar in November and failed to come out after other patrons did.

Testifying on Tuesday in the trial of the man accused of killing Brown, 45, Pemberton said she went to the door and asked if Brown was OK. Brown said he was, and he would be right out.

But before Brown could come out, Pemberton testified she heard a “pop” and saw the defendant, Johnny Wallace III, 23, walk out of the restroom.

Pemberton went into the bathroom of the Last Call Lounge, 2929 South Ave., and saw Brown lying on the floor, she testified.

“I just had a strange feeling,” Pemberton testified as to what happened before Brown was shot.

Judge Lou D’Apolito is hearing the case against Wallace, who is charged with murder in the death of Brown on Nov. 28. Jurors heard opening statements after jury selection Monday. Prosecutors never offered a motive for the shooting.

Pemberton and Brown had gone out earlier in the evening and only stopped at the Last Call because Brown wanted to say hello to some friends, Pemberton said. She said they only planned on staying for 10 or 15 minutes at most.

She was sitting at the bar when she saw Wallace, who she knew then as Trey, walk into the restroom, then a couple patrons walked out but not Brown. That is when she began to get nervous, she testified.

After she saw Brown lying on the floor, she went out of the bathroom and told someone to call 911, then she went back in the restroom and laid next to Brown, Pemberton testified.

“I’m trying to help him as best I could. I’m screaming for help,” Pemberton testified. “A patrolman got there and tried to help me.”

Pemberton said when paramedics arrived she had to be carried out of the restroom so they could work on Brown.

A bar employee, Lisa Cappitti, testified when she came to work that day about 6:30 p.m. Wallace was already there shooting pool with someone.

Cappitti said Wallace came in the bar a couple times a week.

Jurors also heard testimony from police officers who collected evidence and from officers who responded to the 911 call for a shooting at the bar.