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WARREN -- The murder trial begins Monday for an 18-year-old accused of killing a man from Farrell, Pa., after luring him to a Warren neighborhood in a buy-sell-trade arraignment for a cellphone.
The prosecution and defense will begin jury selection to decide the 12 jurors that will be tasked with deciding whether Gavin Roberts is guilty of killing 37-year-old Brice Hilton.
Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Cynthia W. Rice will oversee the trial.
Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Becker and defense attorney Jeffrey Goodman will serve as the legal counsel.
The night of Nov. 19, 2022, Hilton was found lying in the road shot multiple times about 8 p.m. in the area of Colonial Street and South Feederle Drive SE. A dispatch call log stated that before police arrived, a woman started performing CPR on Hilton.
Hilton was later transported to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A bill of particulars states Hilton arrived to the area with his girlfriend and exited his vehicle to complete the transaction with Roberts, who had two occupants in a waiting vehicle. When the cellphone case was opened, the court document states Hilton saw there was potato instead of a cellphone in the box.
As Hilton attempted to back out of the sale and began walking back to his vehicle, the document alleges Roberts began shooting at him.
After Hilton fell to the ground, Roberts approached his body and began rifling through his clothing before shooting him again, the court document states.
The two individuals that accompanied Roberts to the sale then went to the home of Roberts' father on Oak Knoll Avenue and told him what they witnessed.
After running from the area of the robbery turned deadly shooting, Roberts arrived at his father's home still in possession of the loaded firearm and confronted the two individuals for leaving him.
Police said during a news conference in November, shortly after the killing, Roberts' father then confronted him and reported him to police and confined him until police were able to arrest him and collect the gun.
The murder of Hilton came only eight days after a similar instance of an e-commerce exchange turned deadly shooting when a 16-year-old from Brunswick was shot and killed in Warren during a meet up to sell a PlayStation console.
During the news conference, police urged the public to take every precaution when selling or buying items online.
In April 2023, Roberts was indicted on two counts of aggravated murder and one count of aggravated robbery with a gun specification. During arraignment, bond was set at $1 million by Rice.
An offer was made last month by Becker to have Roberts enter a guilty plea to the indictment in exchange for a sentence of life without parole. However, this was rejected by Goodman, who countered with a suggestion of a 15-year-to-life sentence, which was rejected by prosecutors.