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Testimony continues in West Side murder trial
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A firearms analyst for the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation testified Tuesday that a gun found in Mill Creek Park matched spent shell casings inside an SUV where a woman was shot to death on the West Side.
Joshua Barr told Mahoning County Common Pleas Court jurors before Judge Anthony Donofrio in the aggravated murder trial of Dashonti Baker, 26, of Millet Avenue, that the Smith & Wesson 9 mm handgun also matched a spent bullet found in the SUV and bullets that were recovered from the body of Rae’venne Faircloth-Thomas, 24, who was shot to death about 12:30 p.m. June 23, 2017, in the SUV on Oneta Street.
The gun was found in Mill Creek Park about a week after Faircloth-Thomas was killed, wrapped in a white Walmart bag that was found in a creek.
The gun was used to kill Faircloth-Thomas because of a property dispute, police said.
Baker was linked to the crime because of a car that was seen driving away from the murder scene that had a back window broken out and covered by a distinctive piece of carpet. The car and carpet were found at Baker’s home by a city police officer who was familiar with the area and the car.
A DNA analyst testified Monday that Baker’s DNA was not found anywhere on the gun.
Baker’s girlfriend, Barraya Hickson, 26, was also charged with aggravated murder, but she pleaded guilty last week to a reduced charge of obstructing justice. She was the getaway driver, police said.
Police recovered five spent 9 mm shell casings inside the SUV along with two handguns, a 9 mm and a .40-caliber handgun. Those weapons were compared to the casings found at the crime scene and they did not match up, Barr said.
Prosecutors also began introducing cellphone evidence Tuesday afternoon. The boyfriend of Faircloth-Thomas, Corey Cochrane, testified about calls and texts he made to both Baker and his girlfriend the day that she died. Cochrane said he texted Baker after he found Faircloth-Thomas was killed, but Baker seemed indifferent.
Prosecutors have said previously that data they retrieved from the phones of Baker and Hickson place them both in the area where Faircloth-Thomas was killed about the time of her murder.