YOUNGSTOWN — Lavontae E. Knight had more alleged connections to murder in late 2018 than one might imagine possible.

He’s charged with homicides in October 2018 and December 2018, and his half brother was part of a triple homicide in November 2018.

Knight, 24, of Ferndale Avenue, is charged with murder, aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, attempted cocaine possession and a weapons charge in the Oct. 25, 2018, killing of Josh Donatelli, 26, at Donatelli’s home on Imperial Street.

A co-defendant, George Gutierres, 29, pleaded guilty in December to reduced charges and is expected to testify when Knight goes on trial Feb. 10 before Judge John Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

A Thursday hearing will address evidence suppression issues raised by Knight’s attorney, David Betras. Durkin will decide whether police can use evidence obtained from a cellphone that police recovered at a Leo Avenue home Jan. 14, 2019.

TRIPLE HOMICIDE

On Nov. 11, 2018, about two weeks after the Donatelli killing, Knight’s half brother, Edward Morris Jr., 21, was shot to death in an “ambush” style killing on the South Side. Also killed in the shootings were Morris’ girlfriend, Valarcia Blair, and their 3-month-old son, Tariq Morris.

Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains, Youngstown police Chief Robin Lees and Mayor Jamael Tito Brown were among the city officials who announced in November 2019 that Shaiquon Sharpe, 23, of Columbus, and Taquashon Ray, 23, of Youngstown, had been indicted in the triple homicide.

Officials said they could not talk about why the shootings happened. They said Morris knew Sharpe, and the two had arranged to meet that day. Police said earlier in the investigation that Morris was apparently the intended target of the gunfire.

Sharpe and Ray go on trial May 11 before Judge Maureen Sweeney.

HALF BROTHERS

Police say Knight, who was indicted in the Donatelli murder in April, is the half brother of Morris. That fact is contained in an affidavit filed in court.

In the affidavit, police said a witness in the Dec. 30, 2018, killing of Trevice Harris, 37, said Harris met up with Knight on Dec. 30, 2018, because Knight asked Harris for money to help with family expenses associated with the triple homicide.

The witness, a woman, said Knight called Harris on the phone and asked him for “financial assistance for his family,” police stated in the affidavit. Harris went to a home on Ferndale alone.

Later, Harris called the witness and asked her to go to the Ferndale residence. Someone called “Slim” flagged her down in the street, and they went into the house, where Harris was being held at gunpoint, she said.

“Slim” and another man forced Harris and the woman into a car and drove them around, saying they did not intend to hurt them.

But gunshots rang out, and the witness got into the driver’s seat and drove away with Harris to the Shell Gas station, 3200 Market St., to get help. Harris died at the hospital.

Knight is charged in the Harris killing with aggravated murder, attempted murder, aggravated robbery, kidnapping, felonious assault and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

EXPERT WITNESS

Betras was successful in December in convincing Durkin to allow him to hire an expert witness in Knight’s murder case involving Donatelli.

Betras argued that because witness identification may play a key role in the case, he wanted an expert witness to assist the defense and possibly testify on cross-racial identification, meaning identification of a defendant by someone of another race.

A 2012 brief filed by the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality at the Seattle University School of Law in a criminal case before the state of Washington Supreme Court stated: “Numerous studies and exonerations have shown that cross-racial misidentification is a leading cause of false convictions.”

It stated a task force report “shows that eyewitness identifications are particularly unreliable when the eyewitness is identifying a person of another race.”

Psychology professor Margaret Bull Kovera, who was hired as the expert witness, regularly provides this type of assistance to clients, according to a web page about her work.

erunyan@tribtoday.com