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WARREN -- A man accused of taking part in the Aug. 2, 2020, fatal drive-by shooting on Summit Street NW pleaded guilty to drug and gun charges Thursday -- connected to a Braceville traffic stop that occurred almost two weeks after the slaying.
Cameron D. Tillis, 36, who now is incarcerated in Trumbull County jail awaiting the June 27 aggravated murder trial, pleaded guilty to charges of possession of cocaine and having weapon under disability. The two charges carry possible prison sentences totaling up to 54 months. Common Pleas Judge Ronald J. Rice said sentencing in that case will occur after the jury decides Tillis' fate on aggravated murder, weapons under disability and tampering with evidence charges.
Tillis, who lived on Palmyra Road SW in Warren, is one of two people accused in the shooting death of Delquan Ware, 24, while Ware was driving a vehicle on Summit Street.
On Aug. 15, 2020, 13 days after the killing of Ware, Tillis was driving a silver SUV that was stopped on state Route 5 and Braceville Road by a sheriff deputy. According to the report, the deputy pulled the vehicle over because the windows were overly tinted.
After learning that Tillis' driver's license was suspended, the deputy noticed the driver was overly nervous and kept looking at the center console. Upon a body search, the deputy came up with a clear plastic bag with a substance inside that later tested for five grams of crack cocaine. Also on Tillis was some $813 in cash in small denominations. A search of the vehicle came up with a loaded 9mm handgun inside of the center console next to the driver's seat, the report stated.
As part of the plea deal, Tillis agreed to forfeit the cash that was found during the traffic stop.
Tillis has been in jail, held without bond, since he was brought to the area after being arrested on Dec. 3, 2021, in Washington state after being on the run for more than a year. Tillis was arrested by federal marshals late in the afternoon at a home in Renton, Wash., about 15 miles southeast of Seattle. Investigators in late October used information to track Tillis to the Pacific Northwest.
Tillis was indicted secretly Jan. 14, 2021, by a Trumbull County grand jury, charging him with aggravated murder with firearm and calculated design specifications, having weapons as a convicted felon and tampering with evidence. Tillis was convicted of a drug possession charge in 2019, records show.
His co-defendant in the murder case, Stefon Alexander, 36, surrendered to authorities in December 2020. Court records show Alexander will appear before Judge W. Wyatt McKay on May 27 in a scheduled change-of-plea hearing.
Alexander now is incarcerated in Lake Erie Correctional Institution after being convicted and sentenced in December to 18 months in prison on a drug possession conviction.