Staff photo / Ed Runyan Darnell Jones, right, prepares for the start of his aggravated murder trial Tuesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. Defense attorney Joe Ohlin is at left.

YOUNGSTOWN — Believe it or not, the Darnell Jones aggravated murder trial that began in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on Tuesday ended in a mistrial, in almost the same way as it did Feb. 18 — a statement from a witness that jurors were not supposed to hear.

A jury was selected Tuesday morning, and opening statements in the trial were given around 2:15 p.m. By 3 p.m., Judge John Durkin had declared another mistrial, and the jurors were sent home. The trial is now reset for June 8.

Attorneys for the prosecution and defense were not willing to say anything, nor did a family member of the victim in the case, who was clearly frustrated.

Jones, 21, of Austintown and Warren, went on trial a second time Tuesday in the Sept. 11, 2023, shooting death of Ty’Lend J. Lewis, 21, at a home on Summer Street on the South Side.

Jones went on trial the first time in February. On the second day of the trial, a witness made a statement that jurors were not supposed to hear. It resulted in the first mistrial, which led to Tuesday’s trial.

Jones is indicted on aggravated murder, murder, aggravated burglary and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

There was also a mistrial in another murder case recently, the trial of Danyo Sellers, 19, who was accused in the April 15, 2023, shooting death of Amya Monserrat, 15, outside Martha’s Boulevard Tavern on Southern Boulevard.

On that trial’s second day, a key witness, co-defendant Saun Peterson, 23, took the stand and invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to testify on the grounds of self-incrimination.

When it happened, the attorneys had a sidebar conversation with Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony D’Apolito. The trial was then paused for a couple of hours.

When the jury returned to the courtroom about 1:30 p.m., D’Apolito told them he had declared a mistrial because of “what happened earlier today.” He said he and the attorneys discussed “the law as it applies in this matter and how it might affect the case going forward.”

He said based on those cases and his “review of case law that governs my actions in this matter, it is my decision that at this time I must declare a mistrial.”

He said he wanted the lawyers to meet with his staff to reschedule the trial as soon as possible. A week later, Sellers went on trial again. This time, he was found not guilty on murder, felonious assault, involuntary manslaughter and improperly handling a firearm in a motor vehicle.