YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — The last of three men accused of killing a 4-year-old Struthers boy had his first pretrial hearing Wednesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Judge Anthony D’Apolito said he hopes a trial for Andre McCoy, 22, can be held late this year on charges of aggravated murder — that could carry the death penalty if convicted — along with charges of attempted murder and aggravated robbery.

McCoy is one of three men accused of the September 2020 shooting death of Rowan Sweeney, 4, who investigators said was killed in a robbery at the Perry Street home of his mother in Struthers.

Four others were wounded in the same shooting, including McCoy.

In a brief pretrial hearing, attorneys discussed discovery in the case with Judge D’Apolito.

McCoy had been on the run for more than two years before he was arrested last month by members of the U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Fugitive Task Force at a home on the South Side.

Also facing the death penalty for Sweeney’s death if convicted is Kimonie Bryant, 25. He turned himself in hours after the shooting and has been in the county jail since then. He was indicted in October 2020. McCoy was indicted in March 2021 in a superseding indictment.

Indicted at the same time as McCoy was Brandon Crump, 19. However, his aggravated murder charges have been sent back to juvenile court because those charges were never heard by a juvenile court judge. He is not eligible for the death penalty because he was a juvenile at the time the crimes were committed.

McCoy was shot in the head during the robbery and at one time was thought to be close to death. Prosecutors have not said if he was shot on purpose or if it was an accident.

The case has taken a long time to make its way through the court docket because of litigation over DNA testing in the case at a private lab. Prosecutors said they needed the tests to be completed to determine who would be tried first in the case, while attorneys for Bryant wanted an expert to observe the testing in person, however, a lab that would allow that to take place could not be found.

After the tests were completed, a trial date of June 20 was set for Crump and Sept. 11 was set for Bryant.