Staff report

WARREN — Testimony continued Tuesday in the aggravated murder trial of Ashaud Johnson, 19, of Warren, who is accused in the Feb. 11 shooting death of Da’Mar McKinney, 16, of Youngstown.

Johnson was indicted Feb. 19 on charges of aggravated murder, gun specifications, tampering with evidence and receiving stolen property. His co-defendant is Willis Smith IV, 18, who was indicted on a charge of aggravated murder with a gun specification and tampering with evidence.

McKinney was killed in an incident that left bullet shell casings around the parking lot of the Packard House apartments on Mahoning Avenue NW in Warren after Johnson and another man emerged from the apartments and clashed with what defense attorney Jeff Goodman during opening statements Monday called the “gang from Youngstown.”

Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Chris Becker called four witnesses to the stand on Tuesday, including one young woman who reportedly drove the Chevy SUV from Youngstown to the Warren apartment complex. The 17-year-old identified herself as a cousin to McKinney and described his body being dragged toward the SUV after he was shot. The young woman told the jurors the group went to Warren for the purpose of trading guns.

The second woman who testified, an 18-year-old, was the person renting the basement apartment from where Johnson and another man came from to do the shooting that night. She identified through videos that it was Johnson who was the shooter.

Also testifying were Warren police detectives Brian Crites and Nicole Smith. Crites identified the two guns that were found in the basement apartments and identified shell casings outside the doorway that were linked to them. Another gun, belonging to the victim, was also identified.

Smith identified Johnson as being the shooter in several apartment security videos. It was at the end of the day’s testimony that a jail call between Johnson and another unidentified woman was played. The woman on the call was difficult to understand and Johnson’s voice was low and muffled on the recording.

Becker and defense attorney Jeff Goodman gave differing accounts of what was shown in a surveillance video played for the jury on Monday.

Smith’s testimony will continue as the trial resumes at 9 a.m. Wednesday.