Christopher Jackson Sr. testifies Tuesday during the trial of two men accused of killing his son, Christopher Jackson Jr., 21, of Warren on Nov. 18, 2018, in a car on Youngstown’s East Side. His son is in the photographs Jackson is holding.... Staff photo / Ed Runyan

YOUNGSTOWN — Christopher Jackson Jr., 21, and his friend, Carlos Davis III, went to Youngstown on Nov. 18, 2018, to see an “acquaintance” of Jackson’s named Stephon Hopkins, Mahoning County Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Paris told jurors Tuesday in opening statements of an aggravated murder trial.

When Davis drove the two men to meet Hopkins, they were surprised to find that Hopkins also had two men with him, Paris said. They were Lorice Moore and Brian Donlow Jr., she said. Hopkins and Moore, both 25, are on trial in the case. Donlow, 27, was tried separately.

Davis was directed to drive to the intersection of Bennington and Stewart avenues on the East Side.

“Without warning, all three men pull out guns and open fire. (Jackson) is hit nine times, once right in the back of the head,” Paris said. Jackson died.

“Carlos manages to jump out of the vehicle and run. He was only hit twice,” Paris said. Davis hid on a partially enclosed porch nearby, and the resident called 911.

When police arrived, they collected bullet shell casings that were later determined to come from three guns, Paris said.

Crime scene investigators also swabbed the door handles of the vehicle, and Moore’s DNA was found on one, Paris said.

A key on a keychain was found in the back seat of the car, and it tested positive for Hopkins’ DNA, Paris said.

When Youngstown police detective Michael Lambert investigated, he found Facebook messages between Jackson and Hopkins prior to the homicide, Paris said. “Those messages are from Stephon Hopkins are asking (Jackson) to come to Youngstown,” Paris said.

She said the Facebook messages show that Hopkins, Moore and Donlow “have a plan,” adding that Hopkins “was luring those men to Youngstown,” and they were “in this together from the moment they got in that car.”

There are two attorneys each for Hopkins and Moore, and one each also give opening statements. Attorney Corey Grimm, who represents Hopkins, told jurors Lambert “made human error” in the investigation, saying the residents living near the intersection where the car was found were not “canvassed to determine whether anyone saw anything.”

Defense attorney Nicholas Cerni, who represents Moore, said despite the prosecution’s theory that three men in the car each fired one weapon, one person could have fired two guns.

“It does not add up why Lorice Moore would be in that vehicle,” Cerni said.

The first witness was Christopher Jackson Sr., father of Jackson, who broke down many times on the stand, especially when prosecutors handed him photos of his son.

“My baby boy,” he said tearfully of his son, who went by “C.J.”

The last time he saw his son was the evening of Nov. 17, though he is sure his son came back home close to midnight and walked through the house briefly before leaving again. He and his wife learned at about 3 a.m. that their son was dead.

Under cross examination by attorney Tom Zena, who represents Moore, Jackson said his son shot dice “every day,” but he did not know who he shot dice with, or where, just that he did it with “buddies.”

Davis also testified Tuesday, but Paris told jurors in opening statements she didn’t know whether Davis would say anything or not.

Davis, 25, who was dressed in a Mahoning County jail jumpsuit and was accompanied to the witness stand by a deputy, said practically nothing.

He gave his full name, but when asked any other questions he took said, “I plead the Fifth,” a reference to a person invoking their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

After about the fourth time, Mahoning County Assistant Prosecutor Mike Yacovone asked the judge to declare Davis a “hostile witness,” but the judge instead excused Davis from any further questions, and he was escorted back out of the courtroom.

Another witness was Youngstown police officer Michael Medvec, the first officer at the scene, who responded to a 1:52 a.m. call about a man on the porch of a home with gunshot wounds and found Davis with two gunshot wounds to his upper back.

Medvec soon learned there was a vehicle nearby, and Jackson was dead inside of it in the passenger seat. Medvec said he had trouble getting any “basic information from Davis.” He said he did not speak to any neighbors even though he thinks officers “knocked on some doors.”

In addition to aggravated murder, Hopkins and Moore, both of Youngstown, are charged with murder, attempted aggravated murder, attempted murder and felonious assault. Hopkins also faces a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The trial resumes this morning.

erunyan@vindy.com