YOUNGSTOWN — Although the question of who shot 4-year-old Rowan Sweeney on Sept. 21, 2020, at a home on Perry Street in Struthers has not been answered, a new court document provides some insight.

Among these clues is that defendant Brandon Crump’s DNA is connected to bullet casings found at the scene.

The lengthy “bill of particulars” filed by prosecutors provides an outline of the case and “particulars” of the offenses with which three defendants are accused.

It repeats much of the information as released by police in the past about a man forcing entry into the home at 1:52 a.m. to rob the people inside, stating he “began shooting.” Afterward, the man “fled on foot out of the home.”

But then it adds: “Several (bullet) casings and blood splatter were found in the interior of the home.” It mentions the gunshot wounds Rowan suffered to his head, forearm and thigh and says autopsy results show the boy died of “multiple gunshot wounds,” and his death was ruled a homicide.

It also states that defendant Brandon Crump’s “DNA is connected to the (bullet) casings found at the scene.”

This is the first time prosecutors have revealed any information about DNA results obtained in the case. Judge Anthony D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court issued a “gag order” in the case, preventing the parties from talking about the facts of the case outside of court hearings or filings.

Attorneys for defendant Kimonie Bryant, 26, have been relentless in asking that their expert witness be present to view analysis of the DNA police gathered. His lawyers are pressing for beneficial terms under which the expert witness could view the analysis, even in the face of protest by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation that the agency does not allow outside individuals into its laboratories.

Arrangements made to have the private lab — Bode Technologies of Virginia — carry out the testing delayed the case for months. The judge and the parties indicated the testing was completed recently, but they have not said what the results have shown.

But Friday’s document suggests for the first time that Crump’s DNA was found on the shell casings from the home on Perry Street. Some witness accounts as to who the shooter was have changed since initial police interviews, but they have alternately said it was Crump or Bryant.

SHOOTINGS AND ROBBERY

The bill of particulars also gives details connecting Crump, 20, Bryant and Andre McCoy Jr., 22, to the fatal shooting of Rowan, robbery and nonfatal shootings of the four adults in the home.

It reiterates allegations discussed earlier that cellphone records obtained through search warrants indicate that Crump and Bryant “were together … during the time of the homicide.” And it restates that videos on the cellphone of Crump “show him in possession of large amounts of cash on Sept. 21, 2020.”

The bill of particulars states that investigators seized multiple cellphones during the probe, and investigators conducted an “extraction” from McCoy’s cellphone. It states the presence of text messages between McCoy and Bryant “at the approximate time of the shooting that would indicate the planning of shooting / burglary / robbery.”

Investigators also found “incriminating text messages between” McCoy and the woman McCoy had come to the home with that evening, Cassandra Marsicola, the document states.

McCoy, Marsicola, Rowan’s mother Alexis Schneider and Yarnell Green, the adults in the home, all were shot during the episode. Green was shot to death downtown in September 2022 in an unrelated incident. Johnny Serrano, 23, is charged in Green’s death.

UPCOMING TRIALS

Crump is the first of the three defendants expected to go on trial in the Rowan case with a trial date of June 20, even though his case currently is before Judge Theresa Dellick of Mahoning County Juvenile Court in proceedings expected to result in Crump being bound over to adult court for a second time.

Crump has a hearing at 9:30 a.m. March 14 during which evidence will be presented in an attempt by prosecutors to establish probable cause that Crump committed the crimes for which he is accused.

Bryant is expected to go on trial after Crump, and McCoy third.

Bryant and McCoy could get the death penalty if they are convicted of certain of their charges. Crump was 17 at the time of the killing and is not eligible for the death penalty. Juvenile offenders in Ohio cannot get the death penalty. When the death penalty is possible, defendants must be tried separately, officials have said.

Meanwhile, a witness list filed last week in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court suggests that trials for Crump, Bryant and McCoy could be lengthy because of the number of witnesses prosecutors say might be called to testify.

It lists 129 witnesses, including Schneider and Marsicola; many police officers from the Struthers Police Department, including captains Dan Mamula and Matt Haas; officers with other local police departments, including Youngstown, Liberty, Boardman and Campbell; an individual from the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center; family members of the defendants; BCI personnel; a former investigator for the Mahoning County Coroner’s Office; personnel from the Mahoning County jail and sheriff’s office; a doctor from the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office; many people whose names are not familiar; several local doctors; agents with the U.S. Marshal’s Service; and representatives for Bode Technology and American Medical Response ambulance service.