Trending
WARREN -- An August sentencing date was set for what will be the third and final co-defendant to be sentenced to prison time for a 2023 fatal house fire in Warren.
Zackary Gurd, a 23-year-old from Youngstown, was implicated in the Jan.19, 2023, fatal house fire on Nevada Avenue NW in Warren that resulted in the death of 16-year-old Chassidy Broadstone and injuries to her two siblings.
After a delay, he will now be sentenced by Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Cynthia Rice Aug. 22, according to court records.
Gurd was identified through surveillance footage showing him and co-defendant Brendan Daviduk entering the house with a gas can. Following the incident, Gurd fled the state but was later apprehended in Virginia by U.S. Marshals on Feb. 3, 2023.
After his arrest and extradition to Ohio, he was booked into Trumbull County jail.
Gurd was the first of three co-defendants to accept a plea deal, avoiding the death penalty as he pleaded guilty before Rice to an amended indictment on charges of two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of attempted aggravated murder, two counts of aggravated arson, aggravated burglary and tampering with evidence, all felonies of various degrees.
On Wednesday, Daviduk, 30, of Youngstown, accepted a plea deal and was sentenced to 32 years to life in prison. He pleaded guilty in June after initially rejecting a deal.
However he ultimately pleaded guilty to an amended indictment on charges of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, aggravated arson, attempted aggravated arson and tampering with evidence.
Patricia Zarlingo, 29, also from Youngstown, accepted a plea deal in June. She pleaded guilty to aggravated murder, two counts of aggravated arson, aggravated burglary and tampering with evidence.
Zarlingo was sentenced to 35 years to life in prison. The plea deal allowed her to avoid the death penalty, with one count of aggravated murder and the death penalty specification dropped.
Prosecutors argued that although she may not have directly started the fire, she was the driving force behind the crime motivated by a child support dispute.