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LISBON -- A jury of eight men and four women deliberated for just over an hour Friday afternoon before finding Tyrell Travers guilty of aggravated murder and murder for the May 19, 2021 shooting death of Dion McMillon.
Travers, 25, Clover Avenue, Wellsville, will face sentencing at 1:20 p.m. June 8 in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court and could face life in prison.
"I know there's more than one sentence the court can impose," Travers' defense attorney Walter Madison said.
Judge Megan Bickerton was prepared for immediate sentencing, but agreed to Madison's request for more time. He said he had not thought about mitigation factors and wanted time to do that. When asked for comment after the trial, he declined until after sentencing.
The possible penalties include life without the possibility of parole or a range of years up to life in prison, along with three years for each gun specification.
After the first guilty verdict was read, the family and friends in attendance for the 26-year-old victim showed signs of relief, while the family of the defendant wept and Madison put his arm around his client.
Besides being found guilty of both the aggravated murder and murder counts, the jury also found that the defendant used a firearm for both counts. Bickerton noted that the jury filled the forms out incorrectly for the firearm specifications, which required an answer of "did" or "did not." They wrote "guilty" instead of "did," but Bickerton confirmed the intent with the jury foreman and all jurors agreed.
"We're satisfied with the verdict," county Assistant Prosecutor Steve Yacovone said.
"The diligent efforts of the East Liverpool Police Department and the county Major Crimes Task Force, in particular Detective Captain Darin Morgan, helped bring justice," county Assistant Prosecutor Tammie Riley Jones said.
According to county Chief Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Weikart, it's a rarity to have back-to-back aggravated murder trials like this. Last week, Nathan Tataseo was convicted of aggravated murder and murder in the death of his father, James, and sentenced immediately to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Weikart and Assistant Prosecutors Alec Beech and Christopher Weeda represented the state of Ohio.
Then this week Jones, Yacovone and Weikart handled the Travers case. Both the jury trials took four days from start to finish.
"I am really proud of Steve and Tammie. They did a great job. I'm proud of the entire staff when you have two of these trials back-to-back. It really takes every attorney, investigator and member of the support staff to keep things running smooth. These last two weeks have really been a team effort. Everybody stepped up to the plate," Weikart said.
A charge of tampering with evidence that was part of the original indictment was being dropped.
The day began with a ruling by Bickerton regarding a firearm Madison had questioned Morgan about on Thursday, with Yacovone raising an objection. She said there was no evidence that the firearm in question was part of this case and that it cannot be brought up again. She also gave a warning about talking over each other, making it difficult for the court reporter. Madison apologized to the court reporter and Bickerton said she would note his objection to her ruling.
The jury was brought in and Madison continued his extensive cross-examination of Morgan, who retired from the East Liverpool Police Department and is now an investigator with the county Prosecutor's Office. Madison questioned him about the evidence against Travers.
"Nothing directly puts him or puts that gun in his hand as the killer, correct?" he asked, to which Morgan replied, "Correct."
He also questioned about the white Kia Soul that paperwork shows was rented by Travers and was seen on video parking and then speeding away from the shooting scene neighborhood on East Liverpool's east end. He questioned whether the witness who saw the vehicle saw who was speeding away, with Morgan saying they did not.
He questioned him on why that car wasn't tracked down after it was turned in to the rental agency and tested for gunshot residue even though it had already been cleaned and rented out again. He questioned why a shirt taken from Travers' home during the execution of a search warrant wasn't tested for gunshot residue since video from Sheetz in Calcutta showed Travers wearing what looked like that shirt an hour and a half before the shooting.
There were a few times when objections were made by Yacovone to the line of questioning, with the judge telling Madison he was getting beyond the scope at one point, saying some of the questions had been asked and answered. Later on in the questioning, the judge cleared the jurors from the room and went back and forth with Madison over some of the things he was saying. He claimed she was interrupting him and he didn't think that was fair, admonishing him in front of the jury.
Bickerton though said she was giving him wide latitude and he was continuing to question her. She said she was following the rules and trying to keep a clean record of the proceedings.
Yacovone questioned Morgan about some of the points Madison raised about the shirt and the lack of gun shot residue testing. He noted that the car had already been cleaned and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation chose not to test the shirt. He said that all evidence pointed to Tyrell Travers.
The state rested its case and the only witness the defense called to the stand was Kevin Kramer, a BCI forensic scientist who specializes in firearms. He said the shell casings found at the scene were .40-caliber and that a Glock pistol had been submitted. Yacovone asked if the 9mm could have fired the .40-caliber shots and he said no.
During closing arguments, Yacovone reviewed the evidence and how the prosecution proved all the elements of the charges against Travers, reminding the jurors how his ex-girlfriend said he told her "I got Action." Action was the nickname for the victim.
"He ambushed Dion McMillon," he said.
He told jurors that the case was straight forward. Travers said it in his own words when he said he got Action. He can't talk his way out of this.
Madison told jurors to judge the credibility of the evidence and the witnesses.
"It looks like a duck, but does it quack like a duck?" he asked.
The witnesses never said they saw his client driving that car near the murder scene. Nobody could see who was shooting when jurors saw the video of the murder.
"Tyrell Travers is not guilty," he said.
Jones finished the closing arguments by saying she agreed with what Madison said about the case being evidence-based, but took exception to him saying the state was throwing mud balls. She again reviewed the pertinent evidence, the car, the testimony and talked about the defendant's interview with police and how they were able to catch him in several lies about the car, his whereabouts and whether he knew the victim.
"This defendant lied. He lied to police about almost everything he talked about. Why did he lie? Because he did it," Jones said.
mgreier@mojonews.com