Staff photo / Ed Runyan David Tribble, 48, was in court Monday morning in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court awaiting the start of his murder trial. Instead, the trial was postponed over evidentiary and witness issues.

YOUNGSTOWN — While one of two trials scheduled to begin Monday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court began with jury selection and will begin Tuesday with opening statements and first witnesses, the other got derailed by the refusal of several witnesses to appear at the trial.

Jury selection took place before Judge Maureen Sweeney in the rape, kidnapping and aggravated robbery trial of Keontae A. Thomas, 27, of Youngstown, who is accused of committing offenses in November of 2022.

The Youngstown Police Department investigated the case. Thomas was indicted in September. The trial resumes Tuesday.

MURDER TRIAL

Meanwhile, Judge John Durkin had different details to sort through Monday morning when Mahoning County Assistant Prosecutor John Juhasz and defense attorney Dave Betras presented their concerns to Durkin regarding the murder trial of David Tribble, 46 of Youngstown, resulting in Durkin agreeing to postpone the the trial, which also was scheduled for Monday.

Durkin also agreed to have transcripts prepared from the grand jury testimony of a witness in the case so that Durkin can better understand concerns Betras has about information he recently obtained about the case. Betras said his concerns are serious enough that he wants the charges against Tribble to be dismissed.

Fifty minutes into the discussion, Durkin said he plans to have Juhasz and Betras back for another hearing in a couple of weeks to discuss what the transcripts show. Then a decision can be made on whether witnesses will be called to testify regarding Betras’ concerns.

“In the event that I do not believe an evidentiary hearing is necessary, then I want everyone back here so we can select a date for a jury trial or whether I ultimately rule in favor of attorney Betras’ motion to dismiss,” Durkin said.

Tribble is charged with murder and gun specifications in the July 11, 2024, shooting death of Jermaine A. Tillis Sr., 51, in the 300 block of East Judson Avenue on the South Side. Tillis was killed in an altercation, according to a U.S. Marshal’s Service news release and a Youngstown police report. Tillis was found dead in the driveway.

Juhasz presented the first issue, which was that several of the people present at the shooting spoke to police afterwards and gave statements, but did not appear Monday for the trial, though two witnesses did appear.

Juhasz said under current state law, the prosecution not only has to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt but also prove that Tribble’s defense of self-defense is not well-founded.

“That’s why we believe that those additional witnesses are important,” he said.

Juhasz said prosecutors did not wait until the last minute to address this issue. He and Assistant Prosecutor Ed Walsh went out over the weekend and knocked on doors to locate the witnesses and talk to them. “We’ve done what we can,” but more needs to be done, Juhasz said.

A process server served subpoenas on the witnesses. But their phones have been disconnected, Juhasz said.

He said he will be filing a motion asking Durkin to issue material witness warrants for the missing witnesses.

DISMISS CHARGES?

Then Betras filed a request Friday for disclosure of the testimony of a witness to the grand jury in this case, as well as a motion Betras filed Monday requesting that the charges be dismissed against Tribble and sanctions be levied against the state for an evidentiary issue Betras said he recently discovered from talking to a witness.

Betras said he notified Juhasz about it. Juhasz agreed that a detective recently added to his report some material that prosecutors did not initially supply to the defense — the fact that the detective interviewed a witness Feb. 27, 2025, after the person had testified to the grand jury.

The detective provided the video of the interview to Juhasz on Saturday night or Sunday morning, Juhasz said. It was provided to Betras on Monday morning.