Trending
LISBON -- The jury trial remains set Jan. 23 for Michael Blower, the man charged with aggravated murder in the March 3 shooting death of Rusty Steele in Lisbon, but attorneys indicated they're working on a resolution, with a possible deadline of November.
A final status conference remains set for 10 p.m. Dec. 18.
Blower appeared in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Friday before Judge Megan Bickerton, accompanied by his defense team of Lou DeFabio and Holly Hanni.
The state was represented by county Chief Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Weikart and Assistant Prosecutor Alec Beech. Family members for both the accused and the victim were in the courtroom.
Bickerton acknowledged that no further motions had been filed in the case since the last hearing when she found Blower competent to stand trial based on evaluations by the Forensic Psychiatric Center of Northeast Ohio on Blower's competency and sanity.
Charges pending against Blower include aggravated murder and murder, both with firearms specifications, for allegedly causing Steele's death. He remains in custody at the county jail under a $1.5 million bond. Steele, 40, resided on Harvey Avenue, Lisbon at the time of his death.
He was found facedown in the street with a gunshot wound to the chest on West Spruce Street the night of March 3. Blower turned himself in on March 4 and allegedly confessed to shooting Steele. An affidavit filed in the case against Blower said he and Steele had been arguing by phone all evening. Steele had children with Blower's wife. The night of the shooting, Steele was at his girlfriend's home on West Spruce Street.
After the shooting, Lisbon Police Chief Mike Abraham said officers "learned Mr. Steele was lured out of the house when someone knocked on the door and said their car broke down and wanted to know if he could give them a jump."
When Steele went outside and was seated in his vehicle, he was allegedly approached by Blower, who shot him.
mgreier@mojonews.com