YOUNGSTOWN — Roosevelt Lewis, father of murder victim Ty’Lend J. Lewis, 21, seemed to understand Wednesday afternoon that witnesses in a trial must not say anything during their testimony that jurors are not supposed to hear so that the trial is fair to the defendant.

He gave the example of a person on trial being dressed in normal clothing rather than jail clothes “so you won’t look (like) a criminal.”

But when the aggravated murder trial of Darnell Jones, 21, was declared a mistrial Wednesday because of something a witness said in his testimony, Lewis was nonetheless frustrated that the whole process will have to start over.

“The prosecutors did a good job of covering evidence. I just wish it would have led to a conviction. But I’m still going to be here. We’re going to get justice,” he said.

During testimony Wednesday morning, a witness started to answer a question asked by Mahoning County Assistant Prosecutor Anissa Modarelli. But partway through his remark, Modarelli talked over him to try to stop him from finishing his statement.

Defense attorney Joe Ohlin then asked for a sidebar to discuss the issue. Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge John Durkin then told the jury that he was going to send them for a break in the proceedings.

The trial did not resume after that. Lewis said prosecutors later advised him that Durkin had decided to declare a mistrial because of the remark.

There had been about an hour of testimony Wednesday on the trial’s second day when the problem arose with the statement.

Before that, a Youngstown police officer testified about officers finding an assault rifle in a tree line not far from where Ty’Lend J. Lewis, 21, was shot to death Sept. 11, 2023, at Lewis’ South Side home on Summer Street.

Several witnesses also testified Tuesday afternoon on the first day of the trial, including Marshayla Walker of Youngstown, who said she referred to the victim as “my brother,” even though they were not blood relatives.

She testified to finding his body and calling 911 but also to seeing a person walking from the area of Summer Street as she was driving toward Summer Street to take food to Ty’Lend Lewis.

She testified that she agreed the male’s size and body type “fit the general description” of Jones, whom she said she had seen one time about a month before Lewis was shot to death.