Witnesses say shooting motive was unclear
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YOUNGSTOWN -- After a day of testimony, it remains unclear exactly why Darius Smith apparently killed a teenager in May, but witnesses all seemed to agree that he did.
Smith, 23, of Dewey Avenue, is accused of fatally shooting 16-year-old Ty'Ron Perry Jr. of Akron at Smith's home on May 27.
A jury was empaneled Monday in the case and prosecutors began presenting evidence Tuesday morning before Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge John M. Durkin. The witness list included the victim's father, Ty'Ron Perry Sr.
Perry testified that the shooting occurred while they were visiting friends at the South Side home. He said there was no argument preceding the shooting, only a brief, albeit slightly tense, conversation between his son and Smith.
"He didn't even say nothing. He had no reason," Perry said of Smith.
He told Mahoning County assistant prosecutors Patrick Fening and Daniel Yozwiak that he didn't even know at first that Smith was in the house. He said Smith came into the dining room, asked everybody if they were "cool" and then his son asked Smith the same question. He said Smith left the room, walked down the hallway to another room, came back a minute later and shot Perry Jr.
Perry was shot at least five times, according to testimony.
Perry Sr. said he did not know his son was carrying a gun. He told prosecutors and defense attorney Frank Cassese that he brought the gun that was sitting on the kitchen table near where his son was standing when Smith allegedly shot him.
Perry also testified that after his son was shot, Smith ran from the house through the front door, and he grabbed the gun from the table and ran out the back door, looking for Smith. He said he fired multiple shots at nobody in particular. Two bullets were found in the side of the house.
Following Perry's testimony, the state called four other witnesses, including three Youngstown police officers.
For every police witness, the prosecution showed snippets of video from the body cameras the officers were wearing the night of the shooting.
The questioning focused on interactions police had with Chancy Kennedy, the owner of the house and Smith's mother. Police said the videos all show Kennedy telling officers that her son, Smith, was the shooter.
Officer Jeshaila Dunkle said Kennedy kept saying "I don't know why he did it."
Antoinette McLaughlin told the court that she was renting a room in the basement from Kennedy. She testified that people were doing drugs, including crack. She said she went upstairs to greet the guests, had a shot of alcohol and went back downstairs.
She said it was only a few minutes later that she heard Kennedy yell, immediately followed by five gunshots and more screaming.
She said she heard Kennedy yell "Oh my God, Oh my God, baby what did you do? Oh my God!"
Smith returned to the house while police were still there and was arrested.
Prosecutors will continue to make their case today when they call witnesses from the Mahoning County Coroner's Office, the Ohio BCI crime lab and at least two detectives, including Detective Sgt. Michael Cox, who led the investigation.