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WARREN -- Other than the subtle sobs from families of the victim and defendant, silence fell over a Warren courtroom as murder trial verdicts were read about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
"Will the defendant please rise?" Trumbull County Judge Cynthia W. Rice asked.
Gavin Roberts, who for the past few days had been on trial in the murder of 37-year-old Farrell, Pa., man stood, showing no emotion on his face.
After two hours of deliberation, jurors had convicted Roberts of aggravated murder and aggravated robbery, but found him innocent of aggravated burglary and a second murder charge.
As each count was read aloud, Roberts hardly reacted.
Several friends and family members of the victim sat in front of Roberts and his attorney, Jeffrey Goodman. Among them was Blair Legg, the girlfriend of the slain Brice Hilton.
After the verdict, Roberts was remanded back to the Trumbull County jail. A sentencing will take place within the next few weeks, which could be up to life in prison.
According to trial testimony, on the evening of Nov. 19, 2022, Hilton and a then-pregnant Legg drove to Warren expecting to purchase a cellphone from Roberts. After Hilton realized the "cellphone" was actually a potato stuffed inside an iPhone box, he attempted to leave and was shot several times by Roberts, who was 17 at the time of the slaying.
Legg clutched the head of Hilton as blood poured from a gunshot wound he suffered to the head. Her frantic cries, telling Hilton to breathe and fight, recorded by police body camera footage, were played during the trial. Footage showed CPR being performed on Hilton.
After the reading of the verdict, assistant Prosecutor Christopher Becker told reporters that Roberts, whom he described as a "cold, calculated killer," will be in prison for at least 23 years before he's eligible for parole.
Despite the prosecution being satisfied with the verdict, Becker spoke about the charges of which he and assistant Prosecutor Gabe Wildman were unable to convince the jury. The pair of prosecutors hoped to prove the murder was committed with prior calculation and design.
"Unfortunately, the jury did not find that he acted with prior calculation and design. That's OK, though, because he can only be sentenced on two of the murder counts, and the one he's been convicted of does carry a life with no parole sentence," Becker said.
Becker admitted that the aggravated burglary charge was "weak." Becker and Wildman hoped to illustrate that when Roberts showed up to the home of William Cole Jr. and Sr., the father and son who testified in court on Tuesday that Roberts, after shooting Hilton, came looking for Cole Jr. and Carter "Duece" Hall at the Cole home on Oak Knoll Avenue.
Becker and Wildman hoped to prove their suspicion that Roberts had gone there to threaten Cole Jr. and Hall after the two fled, leaving Roberts at the crime scene on Colonial Street and South Feederle Drive SE.
Cole Jr. testified that he had alerted his father about what he and Hall had witnessed Roberts do.
When Roberts showed up to the home, Cole Sr. testified that he held a gun to Roberts' head, took Roberts' revolver, called police and waited for them to arrive to arrest him.
Becker ended his media statement giving praise to the work of the Warren Police Department.
"I do want to add is we have a wonderful police department here in the city of Warren. We had three or four detectives testify in this manner. You saw a number of police officers. They just do a great job of gathering evidence, including the murder weapon in this case and photo evidence that showed the defendant loved that firearm," Becker said.