YOUNGSTOWN — Brian Donlow Jr., 26, whose next murder trial is scheduled for this August, has asked Judge Anthony D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to allow him to represent himself.

Donlow, who has been in prison much of the time since his February 2020 conviction in an earlier murder case, appeared in person Tuesday.

Donlow said he wanted to represent himself because his attorney, John Laczko, has not provided him with any pretrial evidence in the case, known as discovery. Donlow said he was also dissatisified with Laczko’s work on his last case.

Laczko went to the Mahoning County jail Monday to speak with Donlow, but Donlow refused to speak to him. Laczko said it’s been difficult to talk to Donlow because of Donlow being in prison.

The judge noted that Donlow could not be brought back for a hearing and meeting with Laczko in the fall because Donlow and a codefendant had COVID-19.

Laczko said he gave Donlow pretrial evidence in the spring, but when Donlow was transferred to prison in June, prison officials would not let him keep those documents. Laczko said he just learned that information.

Judge D’Apolito also presided over that murder trial last February and said Tuesday that Laczko did an effective job. There was surveillance video of the killing in that case, the judge noted.

D’Apolito also listed the numerous motions Laczko filed in the current case and said the record shows that Laczko has defended Donlow “zealously.”

After that, the judge asked Donlow if he still wanted to defend himself, and Donlow said he did. That means another hearing will have to be held Feb. 11 to make sure Donlow “understands the ramifications of that,” the judge said, noting that the two prosecutors working on the case are “skilled,” so going up against them will be a “daunting task.”

In the current case, Donlow and others are charged with aggravated murder in the Nov. 18, 2018, shooting death of Christopher Jackson Jr., 21, of Warren.

Jackson was found shot to death in a car at Bennington and Stewart avenues on the East Side. Another man with Jackson was seriously wounded but lived.

The trial was scheduled for last September and again this month, but it was reset both times because of COVID-19 concerns. It is currently set for Aug. 2.

In the meantime, Laczko will remain on the case, the judge said. If Donlow persists in wanting to serve as his own lawyer, the judge said he will probably still appoint Laczko to serve as “stand by” counsel, meaning Laczko would sit through the trial and step in if Donlow decides he needs help.