Trial in murders of 2 in Warren, including 11-year-old, begins this week

By Ed Runyan

WARREN — Several people who already testified in municipal court about events leading to two murders in April, including that of an 11-year-old boy, are expected to testify again this week in the trial of Eugene Cumberbatch.

Cumberbatch, 27, of Front Street Southwest, is charged with two counts of aggravated murder and other charges. If convicted of certain of the charges, he could get life in prison without parole eligibility.

The trial will begin with jury selection Monday morning before Judge Andrew Logan in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.

Cumberbatch and Eugene Henderson, 26, of Lane Drive Southwest, are accused of killing Lloyd McCoy Jr., the 11-year-old, and his sister’s boyfriend, Marvin Chaney, 26, by shooting dozens of bullets at the front of Chaney’s Wick Street house.

Lloyd, who was a fifth-grader at Willard K-8 School, was at the house visiting his sister, Brittnay McCoy, and nephew.

Earlier testimony from Brittnay McCoy indicated that Henderson and Cumberbatch fired the shots in an attempt to get even with Chaney over $3,000 they believed Chaney had taken from someone.

Brittnay McCoy is among those on the witness list for the trial.

In municipal court, she testified that a cousin had warned her March 27 that someone was planning to get even with Chaney, but he said he would warn her before anything happened so she could protect herself and her children from harm.

Around 9:50 p.m. April 13, Lloyd Jr. was on the couch in a living room in the front of the house when the first gunshot was heard, followed by two more, Brittnay said.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.