Hearing date set in Zackary Gurd case

Judge to decide whether to dismiss capital components

WARREN -- A judge will decide at a hearing next month whether to dismiss capital components that make Zackary Gurd eligible for the death penalty.

Gurd, 23, of Youngstown, is one of three people accused of starting a Jan. 19 house fire on Nevada Avenue NW that killed 16-year-old Chassidy Broadstone, a Warren G. Harding High School junior, and hospitalized her two sisters.

The request to remove the death penalty is a standard defense practice for capital murder cases, according to a court official.

The pretrial hearing is set for 10:30 a.m. June 22 in Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Cynthia W. Rice's courtroom.

During a hearing Wednesday, Gurd appeared in civilian clothing. He was accompanied by court-appointed attorneys Kevin M. Cafferkey and Mary Ellen Ditchey, who agreed to waive the time limit for county Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Becker to respond to motions ahead of the next hearing.

Gurd, Patricia Zarlingo and Brendan Daviduk all face two counts of first-degree aggravated murder with specifications of aggravating circumstances that each can bring the death penalty; two counts of attempted aggravated murder; two counts of aggravated arson; one count of aggravated burglary; and one count of tampering with evidence.

The death penalty specification would apply because Chassidy's death occurred during the commission of other felonies, authorities have said.

Gurd had fled to Virginia after Warren police detectives named him as a suspect in the fatal fire.

On Feb. 3, he was caught by U.S. Marshals shortly after leaving a Greyhound bus station in the Richmond, Va., area.

He waived his right to an extradition hearing and was transported back to Ohio to face the felony charges. He was booked into the jail March 5.

A Feb. 12, 2024, jury trial date already has been established for Gurd. While trial dates for Zarlingo and Daviduk have yet to be set, they will appear in court again on May 31.