YOUNGSTOWN — A large group of family members and friends of Sierra Morris and her father Leroy Morris came to the Mahoning County Courthouse on Monday for a pretrial hearing in the John C. Bruner III double-murder case.

After the hearing, court officials said prosecutors will extend a plea offer to Bruner before the next scheduled hearing Aug. 20. Bruner is set to go on trial Aug. 24 before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum.

Bruner, 30, of Akron, is charged with killing Cierra, 25, and Leroy, 58, Feb. 29 at the Morris’ West Judson Avenue home on the South Side.

Bruner, the father of Cierra’s daughter, 5, is charged with two counts of aggravated murder, one of murder and one of tampering with evidence.

Donna Morris, mother of Sierra and wife of Leroy, said Sierra and Bruner had their ups and downs over the past five years, and Bruner had threatened her in the couple of weeks before her death because he found out she had had gone out to a nightclub.

They were not living together at the time of the killings. Bruner, who was originally from Warren, has almost no past criminal record, prosecutors have said.

Bruner was indicted in March, but the progress of the case has been slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also Monday, attorneys in the Emanuel R. Boyd involuntary manslaughter case met with Judge Krichbaum to discuss whether that case might go to trial Monday as scheduled. Boyd has until Wednesday to decide whether to accept a plea offer, court officials said.

Boyd, 20, is charged in the shooting death of Kane Wiesensee, 18, at Boyd’s home on West Drive in Boardman early Feb. 13.

Police said when they got there, Boyd answered the front door and officers found Wiesensee struggling to breathe on a couch. An officer performed CPR, but Wiesensee died later at the hospital.

A witness told police Boyd was playing with a gun and the shooting was accidental. Boyd initially blamed the shooting on a shot from a vehicle that pulled up outside, police said.

In addition to involuntary manslaughter, Boyd is charged with burglary, being a felon in possession of a firearm, tampering with evidence, grand theft, receiving stolen property and falsification.

runyan@tribtoday.com