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YOUNGSTOWN -- A masked inmate in orange coveralls appeared Monday on the television screen in the courtroom of Municipal Judge Renee DiSalvo to waive his right to preliminary hearing on a murder charge.
DiSalvo said Marquez D. Thomas' case will be presented to a Mahoning County grand jury. Thomas, 24, who last year gave authorities a Glenellen Avenue address, has been charged with aggravated murder, three counts of felonious assault and other charges in connection to the Dec. 27 shooting death of Joseph Addison, 42.
Thomas could not appear in court because of a virus quarantine, court officials said, and his attorney, Lynn Maro, argued for a lower bond. DiSalvo agreed to lower the bond from $1.1 million to $800,000, with the added stipulations that Thomas not have contact with the victims in the case and that Thomas be under electronically monitored house arrest at his own expense. Maro said his client also supplied detectives with an alibi witness.
Maro, who said her client had no prior felonies, argued for a $400,000 bond because he needs to work at a Belmont Avenue care facility to support his family. Assistant Prosecutor James Vivo said he did not object to lowering the bond.
Addison was killed and three others were wounded in an early-morning episode at an apartment complex on Tyrell Avenue on the West Side.
Wounded were two men, ages 34 and 21, and a woman, 26. The shootings were reported at 1:15 a.m.
Meanwhile, Thomas' co-defendant remains at large. The U.S. Marshal's Service and Youngstown Police Department are asking for the public's help in finding C'Mone Thomas, 22, who authorities want to arrest in connection to the Dec. 30 fatal shooting.
Thomas, 22, is 5-foot-5, 135 pounds with brown eyes and black hair.
One of the alleged victims in the case -- Juan Leonard, 34 -- also appeared in DiSalvo's court Monday morning, but his preliminary hearing was continued until today. Leonard, who was shot in the lower arms, was arrested on a warrant on a charge of improper discharge of a firearm into a habitation. That charge stemmed from a May 26, 2021, shooting at an Imperial Street home. Leonard was not taken into custody until after he was treated for his wounds in the Tyrell Avenue shooting.