Murder victim’s father nearly jailed

YOUNGSTOWN -- The father of a murder victim will not be in court for the rest of the trial of his son's alleged killer.

Ty'Ron Perry Sr. of Akron sat on the witness stand Tuesday. On Wednesday, he stood in front of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge John M. Durkin, facing a contempt of court charge.

During later testimony on Tuesday - during the trial of Darius Smith, 23, of Dewey Avenue, for the shooting death of Perry's son, Ty'Ron Perry Jr. - a visibly emotional Perry got up from the gallery and left the courtroom. He did not return. On Wednesday morning, Mahoning County Sheriff's Office deputies working security in Durkin's court arrested Perry outside the courtroom.

A deputy told The Vindicator that Perry was approached by an unknown individual outside the courthouse, a verbal dispute escalated and deputies responded just in time to stop it from becoming a fight.

Perry was told to leave and not return to the courthouse.

On Wednesday, Perry could barely be heard when speaking to Durkin, but he did say that he thought the deputies only meant he was not to return Tuesday. He said he assumed it would be fine for him to come back for the next day of the trial.

Durkin said Perry's behavior overall was "potentially impacting the administration of justice in this trial."

"I'm going to be just perfectly blunt with you. I know that this is emotional and I know that it was your son who was the victim so I'm trying to be understanding," he said. "At the same time, because it's emotional, because of what took place, I have to ensure that this case goes forward without any issues."

Durkin told Perry that he defers to the deputies on matters of security and so as long as Perry follows their instructions, Durkin will not take any further action toward a contempt of court charge.

That exchange came immediately after Wednesday's lunchtime recess. Before that, prosecutors called Youngstown Police Patrolman Josh Hinkle, who was the second officer to arrive on the scene at 934 Dewey in the early morning of May 27. Hinkle applied chest seals to some of the wounds Perry Jr. sustained, but there was no way to save him. Paramedics arrived shortly after and pronounced the 16-year-old Akron boy dead.

Detective Sgt. Nick Bailey was the next witness, and said he encountered Smith about two hours after the shooting, just as he and other officers were about to leave the scene.

Bailey said Smith approached him a few houses down from Smith's home where the shooting occurred, and raised his shirt to show Bailey he was unarmed.

Bailey said Smith also showed police where he had left his gun. He told defense attorney Frank Cassese that it was the only time in his 17-year-career that a murder suspect voluntarily returned to the scene, turned himself in and led police directly to the alleged murder weapon.

Another important witness on Wednesday also testified in the morning — Andrew Sawin of the Ohio BCI crime lab.

Sawin discussed at length with attorneys and jurors how DNA works, particularly how it is transferred. He told the court that on certain pieces of evidence, there were multiple DNA profiles and two major contributors in particular on different items.

On some items, there was an unknown male whose DNA profile was more pronounced than any others. That was not Ty'Ron Perry Jr.

However, Perry Jr. was the major contributor of DNA on three separate swabs taken from a Highpoint .40-caliber hand gun. Samples were taken, Sawin said, from the interior trigger guard, the rear slide and the front sight.

Prosecuting attorney Patrick Fening asked many questions about how that DNA may have arrived there, but Cassese objected frequently.

During his testimony on Tuesday, Perry Sr. told the court that after he attended to his son, in the immediate moments after Smith allegedly shot and killed him, he got up and grabbed the Highpoint off the table near where his son had been standing. He then went out the back door to pursue Smith, who had left through the front, and Perry allegedly fired multiple shots, some of which struck the house.

Police body camera video shown to the court Tuesday shows Smith's mother, Chancy Kennedy, repeatedly telling police she doesn't know why Smith shot Perry Jr. Another witness testified that she heard Kennedy yell right before the shots were fired and then again after, with Kennedy saying "Oh my God, baby, what did you do?"

However, Kennedy has not been called as a witness. Family members of Perry Jr. said Kennedy was bailed out of a Campbell jail earlier this week, where she was being held on failure-to-appear warrants from a 2024 case in which she was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. The family said Kennedy was supposed to testify in the case, but her whereabouts are unknown.