Darius Smith

YOUNGSTOWN — Bond was set at $1 million Friday afternoon for Darius Smith, 22, in the early Wednesday shooting death of a person in the 900 block of East Dewey Avenue on the South Side.

Smith appeared in Youngstown Municipal Court by video from the Mahoning County jail. No plea was entered to the murder charge, which carries a possible prison sentence of 15 years to life if convicted.

Smith was charged Thursday for a killing that took place about 2 a.m. Wednesday. During Smith’s arraignment hearing, his attorney, Frank Cassese, told Judge Renee DiSalvo that he did not think Smith should get a high bond because the killing took place in Smith’s home, “not out on the streets.” He suggested a $100,000 bond.

Cassese said nothing in the records suggests that Smith is a risk to not appear for his future hearings, and this is the first serious offense Smith has “even been alleged to commit.” He has no felony convictions and is a member of the Carpenters Union, Cassese said.

Smith was apprehended the night of the shooting at his house, Cassese added.

Assistant Youngstown Prosecutor Shaina Rochford asked that Smith’s bond be set at $1 million “due to the serious nature of the offenses.” She said the allegations are that Smith “did shoot and kill a minor victim.”

Rochford said Smith had pending charges at the time of his arrest out of the Mahoning County Area Court in Boardman on resisting arrest and obstruction of official business. And he also has “two or more recent” instances in which he failed to appear for court.

In deciding on a $1 million bond, DiSalvo said a pretrial assessment of Smith provided to her states there is a 69% chance that Smith would appear for court. Cassese said Smith does not waive his speedy trial time rights.

His preliminary hearing in municipal court is set for 9 a.m. June 5.

The death for which Smith is accused was the fourth homicide of the year in the city. At this time in 2025, Youngstown had recorded six homicides.

KAYLA DAWSON

In another Youngstown murder case, Kayla Dawson, 26, did not waive her preliminary hearing Friday morning in the April 28 shooting death of motorcyclist Kyree Hornbuckle at Oakwood Avenue and Maryland Avenue on the West Side.

Witnesses were called and testimony was given Friday before Magistrate Meghan Brundege, who bound the case over to Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. Dawson was arraigned on the murder charge Friday in municipal court after being charged May 1. If convicted, she could get 15 years to life in prison. She is also charged with felonious assault.

Members of the U.S. Marshals Service arrested Dawson, of Sharon, Pa., on May 7 in the shooting death of Hornbuckle.

A Youngstown police report states that officers were called to the intersection of Maryland and Oakwood avenues at 7:16 p.m. April 28. Officers were told it was a possible accident with injuries “where a man fell off his bike with a young child on board,” the report states.

But when officers arrived, they saw that the driver had serious injuries and was covered in blood, the report states. He was loaded into a private vehicle and taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, where he was pronounced dead from a gunshot wound, the report states.

Hornbuckle’s death was the third homicide in Youngstown this year.