Staff photo / Chris McBride Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge Sean O’Brien presides in his courtroom at the courthouse in downtown Warren. He is nearing his first two capital murder cases.

WARREN — Only three weeks into his first year on the bench, Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge Sean O’Brien was handed his first two capital murder cases, which are nearing trial dates in the coming months.

Co-defendants Patricia Zarlingo and Brendan Daviduk potentially face the death penalty if convicted of charges in connection to the January 2023 house fire that killed 16-year-old Chassidy Broadstone.

The Zarlingo case has seen some delays. The trial was set to begin today, but was rescheduled to July 23.

“We were ready to go on April 1 and I know the defendant seemed to want to go, the jurors were called in, and I didn’t want to have to push that back, but things like that happen, where something unexpected was found that defense counsel needed to have more time to evaluate,” O’Brien said, adding the delay was out of caution given the critical nature of the case and ramifications of it.

Daviduk will stand trial May 14.

O’Brien, who served as a Trumbull County prosecutor then as a state representative and state senator, said the weight of the responsibility presiding over capital cases that could result in the end of a defendant’s life is something he thinks about often.

“It’s a lot different from any other case where at the end I may have to sign the death certificate,” O’Brien said. “There’s a lot of pressure to think you have somebody’s life in your hands.”