YOUNGSTOWN — Per’asia S. Godfrey, 19, went on trial Monday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in a June 13, 2024, incident on Cameron Avenue on the South Side in which she is accused of stabbing another woman.

Godfrey is charged with felonious assault. Judge Anthony D’Apolito is presiding.

One of the first witnesses in the trial was Youngstown police detective Ron Barber, who investigated the stabbing. During his testimony, multiple cellphone videos were shown of the fight, which began with juveniles fighting, followed by adults joining the fray.

Eventually, the victim ran from the scene, apparently injured. Under questioning by Mahoning County Assistant Prosecutor Katherine Jones, Barber testified that he was able to identify some of the dozen or more people in the video, including Godfrey and members of her family, plus the victim and several others.

After a portion of the videos showing Godfrey and the victim fighting, Barber described what he was seeing: Godrey “takes the object from her left hand to her right hand. And when she goes at (the stabbing victim), she is going this way.” Barber held his right hand in the air, elbow bent and moved his hand in a downward direction.

“I cannot see what the instrument is, but she has something in her hand,” Barber said, adding that Godfrey “wasn’t throwing a punch. Then (the victim) takes off running.”

Godfrey’s attorney, Mark Lavelle, cross-examined Barber, who agreed that the fight took place in the afternoon June 13, 2024. Barber also agreed that the fight involved individuals from Warren, including the victim, and individuals from Youngstown, including Godfrey, and that mostly the people from Warren were interviewed by police later June 13 at the hospital.

Barber testified that based on the report by a patrol officer, it could not be determined who stabbed the victim. Barber said a man was thought to have fired a gun at some point. Barber said he interviewed the victim the next day, and she identified Godfrey as the person who stabbed her, Barber testified.

Barber did not talk to the Youngstown participants prior to filing charges. And he also never spoke with what Lavelle called the “Youngstown crew” at any point except the victim, Barber testified. Of the videos Barber obtained, one came from the Warren “crew,” and one came from Lavelle, Barber said.

Lavelle had one of the videos played for the jury a second time. Lavelle focused on a man in the video. Barber agreed under questioning that it shows the man throwing something into the weeds. Barber said the Youngstown Police Department never looked in those weeds to see what the person threw.

As the video was played, Lavelle asked Barber if he heard a man’s voice say, “She has a gun on her,” and Barber agreed he did. Barber agreed that he never heard gunshots in the video. At the point where Godfrey allegedly stabbed the victim, Lavelle asked Barber if he could see anything in Godfrey’s hand, and Barber said no.

When Lavelle asked what injuries the victim had, Barber said she had an injury to her left hand and “along her right shoulder. I do not know the specific stab wound amounts.” Barber agreed that when he interviewed the victim, she had a wrapping on the inside of her left hand. She said she also got hit on her shoulder a couple of times,” Barber testified.

Barber said there was some confusion at the hospital as to whether the victim had been shot. The victim “knew she was injured at the fight,” but she was not sure at what point during the fight the injury to her hand occurred, Barber said.

Barber said he does not know why anyone said there was a gunshot except for “I know it was chaos. I know adrenaline is going.” Barber said in the “aftermath,” it was clear it was a “stabbing” or “cutting” took place. Barber noted that sometimes people report a shooting when there is none because they think it might get a faster police response.

When questioned again by Jones, Barber said the incident included Godfrey and the victim fighting, “And then on that video (Godfrey) transitions something into her hand and goes at her (the victim), who shows up at the hospital injured. But they were separated, and it goes from fists to someone cut her,” Barber said.

He said when he spoke with the victim the day after the incident, the victim told Barber she had “cut injuries.”

The trial resumes today.