YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — The judge handling the case against one of three men facing the death penalty for the shooting death of a 4-year-old Struthers boy said Tuesday during an arraignment for one of the suspects that he hopes to keep the case on schedule.
Judge Anthony D’Apolito made his remarks in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court as one of the three, Kimonie Bryant, 24, was arraigned on a superseding indictment on charges in the Sept. 21 shooting death of Rowan Sweeney, 4, and the wounding of four others, in the Struthers home of Sweeney’s mother on Perry Street in Struthers.
Bryant, who is already facing a charge of aggravated murder with a death penalty specification as well as four counts of attempted murder, four counts of felonious assault, and charges of aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary, pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiracy, which was the count prosecutors added to his indictment.
Judge D’Apolito has set a September 13 trial date for Bryant.
Defense attorneys and prosecutors said they are working on search warrants in the case and trying to come to an agreement on which ones should be unsealed.
Defense attorney Lynn Maro, one of Bryant’s two attorneys, said about 30 warrants were applied for in the case.
Prosecutors say that Bryant, along with Brandon Crump, 18 and Andre McCoy, 21, broke into the home of Sweeney’s mother to rob her boyfriend of his stimulus check.
The mother, boyfriend, another man and McCoy were all wounded in the attack.
Bryant turned himself in hours after he learned he was a suspect, and Crump was arrested on a robbery charge in November on a warrant out of juvenile court and had his case bound over to common pleas court.
Crump and McCoy were indicted on March 25, along with Bryant’s mother, Lashawn Scott, 43, of Cassius Avenue, and Crump’s girlfriend, Odyessie Butler-Reed, 19, of Rhoda Avenue.
Scott and Butler-Reed each face tampering with evidence charges.
Crump and McCoy could also face the death penalty if they are convicted of Sweeney’s death.
All have been arraigned except McCoy, whose status is unknown because of the head wound he sustained.