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WARREN -- A man convicted in the Aug. 3, 2025, point-blank range shooting death of another man outside a Warren convenience store lost an appeal at the 11th District Court of Appeals and will continue serving his 41.5 years-to-life sentence.
David Hollie, 47, was convicted in October on charges of murder, having weapons under disability, tampering with evidence, failure to comply and receiving stolen property, all with firearm specifications. He was sentenced in late October for the murder of Choice Washington, 34, on Scott Street.
Testimony during the trial focused on a high-speed police pursuit and jailhouse calls linked to the fatal shooting. Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper Brandon Gibson testified about a pursuit initiated around 3 a.m. Aug. 3 after receiving a "be on the lookout" alert for a vehicle tied to a homicide suspect.
Gibson located a silver Buick matching the description at a Speedway gas station in Warren. He activated his lights and sirens, but the vehicle, driven by Hollie, fled after initially stopping.
Video from Gibson's patrol car showed the chase, during which Hollie reached speeds up to 111 mph and ignored traffic signals. Gibson performed a PIT maneuver to stop the vehicle, leading to Hollie's arrest. Gibson identified Hollie in court as the driver.
Warren police detective John Greaver testified about reviewing jail phone calls made by Hollie, who used another inmate's PIN to contact an associate. In one call, played for the jury, Hollie discussed the shooting, asking the person if they had the "demo" which is slang Greaver interpreted as describing the video footage of the shooting incident.
Greaver also identified Hollie in surveillance footage from Aug. 2, hours before the murder, wearing a camouflage jacket later found in the vehicle Hollie drove during the pursuit.
Detective Nicole Smith, the lead investigator, said there was a lack of cooperation from potential witnesses, forcing reliance on video evidence from a nearby apartment. The footage, reviewed at the scene and later at the station, showed Hollie at the location hours before the shooting. Smith confirmed no firearm was recovered, and search warrants for Hollie's DNA and phone yielded no significant evidence for the case.
Jail Sgt. Ariana DeVengencie-McBride testified to explain the Trumbull County jail's phone system, noting inmates use unique PINs and voice verification to make calls. She confirmed Hollie's calls were recorded and provided to police, though inmates sometimes use others' PINs, as Hollie did.
Hollie, who had a prior conviction for involuntary manslaughter in a 2005 Trumbull County case that also involved aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery, spoke briefly before his sentencing.
Hollie told the court he had never seen video evidence showing him shooting Washington until it was played at trial and he claimed if he had seen that video before his trial, he would have taken a plea deal offered by prosecutors, which was one basis for his appeal.
However, the 11th District Court of Appeals rejected this claim, stating "Hollie's knowledge of the video prior to trial, the bare assertion that, had he seen the video, he would have accepted the plea offer does not establish a credible claim of prejudice, i.e., that Hollie would in fact have accepted the plea offer."
He also claimed in his appeal that the judge did not give the jury a self-defense instruction, stating in their ruling "the judges find no abuse of discretion in the trial court's decision because the evidence would not convince a juror that Washington was armed or cause Hollie to believe that he was in imminent danger."