Staff photo / Ed Runyan Defense attorney John Juhasz is seen addressing Judge Anthony D’Apolito Wednesday during a hearing in the Kimonie Bryant aggravated murder case. He is one of three men charged in the killing of Rowan Sweeney, 4, and the wounding of four adults Sept. 21, 2020, in Struthers.

YOUNGSTOWN — Prosecutors revealed Wednesday that based on the DNA results they received, they plan to try Brandon Crump Jr. first in the Sept. 21, 2020, killing of 4-year-old Rowan Sweeney.

Jennifer McLaughlin, assistant prosecutor, told Judge Anthony D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court during a hearing Wednesday for Crump’s co-defendant, Kimonie Bryant, 26, that Bryant will be tried second.

Later in the hearing, the judge said Crump’s trial will be scheduled for May 2023 and Bryant’s trial for August 2023.

Prosecutors have said for about a year that witness testimony is conflicting as to whether Crump, 19, or Bryant was the triggerman who burst through the front door of a home on Perry Street where Rowan was staying with his mother and her boyfriend and killed Rowan and shot all four adults in the home. The adults survived.

Authorities have said cellphone tracking suggests that the phones belonging to Crump and Bryant were physically close together during various stages — before, during and after the shootings. Other evidence suggested that co-defendant Andre McCoy Jr., 22, also was involved — as part of a scheme to steal money from one of the adults in the home.

But prosecutors have never indicated whether knowing from the DNA who shot Rowan would cause prosecutors to try that person first or second. The attorneys in the case and others are prevented by a gag order from discussing such details outside of court or court filings.

Also during Wednesday’s hearing, McLaughlin said charges recently dismissed against Crump were going to be refiled in Mahoning County Juvenile Court on Wednesday afternoon.

D’Apolito dismissed the aggravated murder, attempted murder and felonious assault charges against Crump in agreement with prosecutors after Crump’s attorney argued that the charges required a probable cause hearing before they were bound over to the county grand jury from juvenile court before Crump was indicted.

The one change McLaughlin said would occur when Crump is charged this time is that the specifications that allow for a defendant to get the death penalty if convicted no longer will be attached to Crump’s aggravated murder charge. The reason is because Crump was 17 — a juvenile — at the time of the killing, which prevents him by law from getting the death penalty if convicted.

Bryant and McCoy are charged with the specifications that could result in the death penalty if convicted. McCoy is at large, and authorities are trying to locate him.

Also during Wednesday’s hearing, the attorneys discussed a defense motion asking that the identification by Rowan’s mother, Alexis Schneider, of Bryant being the shooter be suppressed from the trial. Prosecutors later filed a response saying they plan to call her to testify, but they will not ask her or any other witnesses to testify regarding who Schneider thinks the shooter was.

Bryant’s attorneys followed that up with a filing that asked the judge to hold a hearing and rule on the motion anyway. McLaughlin said there is no reason to hold the hearing because prosecutors have agreed to keep evidence out of the trial.

The judge said he supports the idea of holding a hearing to ensure that Bryant’s rights are protected, but if prosectors will “stipulate” on the record certain facts, the hearing may not be necessary. A decision on that will come later.

McLaughlin also said she asked Bode Technologies, the lab that analyzed the DNA evidence from the case, to turn over additional information to the defense that it requested in another recent motion.

erunyan@vindy.com