YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge John Durkin has dismissed the aggravated murder, murder, aggravated robbery with gun specifications and tampering-with-evidence charges against Damon L. Williams Jr., 29, in the June 6, 2021, murder of Kasean Bunch, 23, in a park on Glenwood Avenue.

Mahoning County Assistant Prosecutor Anissa Modarelli sought the dismissal in a Dec. 16 filing, saying Williams died Nov. 26 in Warren. She attached to the filing a brief obituary posted on a local television station website that said Williams died Nov. 26 in Warren at age 29, having been born Sept. 23, 1996.

Durkin dismissed the charges against Damon L. Williams Jr. on Dec. 17.

CO-DEFENDANTS

Durkin sentenced a co-defendant in the case, Khayree C. Williams, now 29, to 20 to 24 1/2 years in prison in November 2023 after Khayree Williams pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter with a firearm specification and robbery in Bunch’s death. Khayree Williams has an expected release date from prison in August of 2041, according to prison records.

Another co-defendant, Michael Collins II, now 30, was indicted on charges of tampering with evidence and obstructing official business, both mid-level felonies, in the case.

He testified in a preliminary hearing in Youngstown Municipal Court in August 2021, several weeks after Bunch’s murder. Collins testified that he drove Khayree Williams to a park on Glenwood Avenue on June 6, 2021, during a break from a roofing job and watched a fight in another car involving Bunch, Khayree Williams and Damon Williams.

Collins testified that he and Khayree Williams were headed to Collins’ home in Boardman when Williams asked to be driven to the park on Glenwood Avenue near West LaClede Avenue.

When they arrived, Khayree Williams got into the back of another car containing Bunch in the front passenger seat and Damon L. Williams, then 24, in the driver’s seat. Collins said he left one open parking space between his car and the one containing Bunch and the two other men. Collins said he saw a “commotion” in the other car, then fighting, then heard two gunshots.

Just prior to the gunshots, Collins heard Damon Williams tell Khayree Williams, “If you got to shoot him, shoot him,” Collins testified. “He said it twice.”

At the end of the hearing, Judge Carla Baldwin ruled that there was sufficient evidence to bind Khayree Williams’ charges over to a Mahoning County grand jury.

DAMON WILLIAMS MEDICAL ISSUES

Damon L. Williams was scheduled for trial in September 2023 in Bunch’s murder, but the trial did not proceed because of Damon L. Williams’ medical issues.

Williams’ attorney, Tom Zena, filed a motion asking for postponement of the trial because of Zena’s inability to meet with Williams to prepare for the trial.

This was because of Williams’ diagnosis of sickle cell anemia, which had resulted in him being hospitalized about four times since the case began, Zena said. Sickle cell anemia affects the shape of red blood cells, which carry oxygen to all parts of the body, according to the Mayo Clinic. It causes the body to not get enough oxygen, which causes fatigue. It can cause extreme pain.

In sickle cell anemia, which is inherited, some red blood cells are shaped like sickles or crescent moons and become rigid and sticky, which can slow or block blood flow.

Durkin said court staff contacted Dr. James Kravec, chief clinical officer of Mercy Health-Lorain and Youngstown and medical director of the Mahoning County Public Health District, to find out whether a video hookup could be worked out so that Williams could participate in the trial remotely.

But the symptoms of Williams’ disease “became so severe, we were not even able to accomplish that,” Durkin said, adding that he was not sure “if or when we’ll be able to try Damon Williams’ case.”

On Sept. 18, 2025, Durkin scheduled Damon Williams’ trial for Jan.12, 2026. The next entry in Damon Williams’ case was Modarelli’s filing notifying Durkin that Damon Williams had died and asking that the charges be dismissed.

No information was provided in the record to indicate what caused Damon L. Williams’ death.