Defendant appears at suppression hearing
19-year-old charged in Feb. ’21 shooting death of city family matriarch
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WARREN -- A man charged in the drive-by shooting death of 89-year-old Ruth Lewis in February 2021 appeared in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court on Friday for a hearing in an effort to suppress evidence obtained during his arrest and subsequent interview with a police detective.
Shamar Askew, 19, who still is housed in the juvenile justice detention center, faces two counts of murder with firearms specifications, improperly discharging a firearm into a habitation and tampering with evidence. He is accused of being the triggerman in the drive-by fatal shooting of Lewis, the well-known matriarch of a family that has been linked to violence over the years, while she sat in her wheelchair in a Starlight Drive NW home on Feb. 28, 2021.
Askew was arrested March 10, 2021, in the back seat of a sedan that was parked outside a Commerce Street NW apartment. Detectives said they had been linking Askew to the slaying and learned from sources inside Lewis' family that he would be at that location at the time.
Defense lawyers, public defenders Gene Fehr and Cristina Sibley, want evidence -- namely a 9mm Taurus handgun found in Askew's pocket and his cellphone -- kept from potential jurors in the case. Askew's attorneys also questioned whether their client's due process and other rights were violated during the subsequent interview on March 11 with a Warren detective.
A trial was scheduled to begin Nov. 14 before Judge W. Wyatt McKay, who presided over Friday's evidence suppression hearing, which will have to be continued at a later date. Prosecutors told the judge they would not be able to argue sufficiently the due process claims Friday. McKay said the continuation of the hearing will be scheduled at a July 27 pretrial for Askew.
Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Becker called four Warren Police Street Crime Unit detectives to the stand Friday, including lead detective Michael Altiere, who conducted the March 11 interview with Askew in the library of the Juvenile Justice Center. Altiere testified they were alone for the process, as Askew did not request a lawyer.
Altiere testified the defendant signed all his constitutional Miranda Rights waivers and did not stop the hour-and-20-minute interview, which was recorded. Becker said because of the length of the interview, he did not play it at the hearing.
Altiere admitted Askew was a suspect in the Lewis murder even though the day before, the teen was arrested on a failure-to-appear warrant for an old obstruction of official business charge out of juvenile court.
"I came into that interview wanting to question him about what happened on Starlight Drive. I told him (Askew) that I wasn't worried about what happened yesterday (during the arrest)," Altiere stated.
Another detective, Pete Goranitis, earlier testified he was charging Askew with carrying a concealed weapon charge after the teen admitted he had a gun in his pocket during his arrest on March 10.
"He said he got the gun from his grandfather," Goranitis said.
Goranitis and two other detectives, John Dina and Chad Shrader, described Askew wanting to take his cellphone with him to the JJC, so detectives asked a family member to retrieve the cellphone from the apartment.
"It was the defendant, and not detectives, who asked for the cellphone," Becker told the judge.
Altiere also said Askew provided a written statement after the interview and did not object to any question, stop any questioning or ask for an attorney.
Under cross examination from Fehr, Altiere admitted asking about the gun that was taken from the defendant during his arrest because it was the same 9mm model that was used in the murder. Altiere said 9mm shell casings were found at the Lewis murder scene.
However, Altiere said the gun confiscated from Askew during his arrest later was found not to be the murder weapon.
Before the hearing, Askew signed a waiver of his rights to a speedy trial extending it 120 days so that a late fall jury trial could be scheduled. In Ohio, defendants who are incarcerated must be tried within 90 days unless they waive that right.
Askew, who appeared in court wearing dark blue issued overalls, remains incarcerated pending the posting of a $500,000 bond.
Lewis was struck in the back with a 9mm round and died from the wounds.
If convicted by a jury, Askew could face a possible 30-year-to-life prison sentence, with each firearm specification adding more time to the term.