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Judge finds 'insufficient evidence'
By Ed Meyer Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Thursday, Nov 15, 2007
Summit County prosecutors and Akron police presented ''insufficient evidence'' last month to convict a teenager on a delinquency charge of murder and other offenses in the Cage nightclub shooting, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Juvenile Court Judge Linda Tucci Teodosio stated in a nine-page decision that ''no weapon was ever recovered'' and ''no search of (the teen's) home was ever done.''
Earl Davis, 16, was found to be delinquent on a single charge of aggravated rioting for participating with several other teens in a fistfight outside the East Market Street club, Teodosio ruled.
But there was no gun, no ballistic evidence and no gang-related evidence directly linking Davis to the murder or the other charges of felonious assault and participating in criminal gang activity, the judge found.
Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Brad Gessner, head of the office's criminal division, said he was ''disappointed'' by the decision, but he also cited gang members' refusals to testify as a major hindrance to the investigation.
''This is a case, where there are 150 young people watching a young girl get gunned down, and they are afraid to come forward,'' Gessner said. ''Those individuals who are involved — out of this bizarre code of silence they have — also won't do the right thing, and that seriously hampers law enforcement's ability to investigate the case.''
In two days of testimony before Teodosio on Oct. 24-25, detectives from the police gang unit testified that Shawrica Lester, 18, was killed on the night of Jan. 26 during an exchange of gunfire by rival gang members.
But Teodosio ruled that none of those teens was tied to the fatal gunshot because of a lack of ballistic evidence.
''A bullet was found in (Lester's) clothing, but it cannot be determined whether or not that bullet was the cause of the fatal injury,'' Teodosio stated.
According to testimony at Davis' trial, the fatal shot struck Lester in the back.
In another apparently significant finding — creating doubt that Lester's killer ever will be known — Teodosio said the bullet recovered from the victim's clothing also did not come from the weapon Tyree Feaster admitted using during his brief testimony at Davis' trial.
Feaster's defense lawyer, Jana DeLoach — who helped authorities recover Feaster's gun — said early on that she felt police ''do not know who shot Shawrica Lester.''
Lack of evidence
Akron Police Lt. David Whiddon, a commanding officer in the detective bureau, said earlier this week that investigators ''don't have a lot of physical evidence'' in the case.
Feaster, 17, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and other charges in a deal with prosecutors in April. He since has returned to a youth facility in Marion, DeLoach said, where he will be incarcerated until age 21 as part of his sentence in the plea deal.
On Monday, Feaster will face an additional prison term — a maximum of 10 years — when he appears before Teodosio in a hearing as a Serious Youth Offender.
Feaster was found in contempt of court last month and sentenced to a three-year term for refusing to testify in the trial of Recardo Travis, 18, who also was charged with murder in the case.
Prosecutors, however, moved to dismiss the charges against Travis following Feaster's refusal to testify.
In Feaster's original plea bargain, according to court records and court testimony, prosecutors did not obtain a written agreement requiring Feaster to testify in future proceedings in the Cage case.
Sandra Lester, the victim's mother, said she was angry and upset by the judge's decision.
''She's sending a message to everybody: 'Your kids can do whatever.' Evidently she doesn't believe we have gangs here in Akron,'' Lester said.
''I've never been through anything like this in my life,'' she added. ''The only positive I have out of all this is that my child is in a better place. She's not in a wheelchair. She's not brain dead. She's with God.''
Testimony not enough
According to Teodosio's ruling, testimony in the Davis trial showed he was ''in the area from which shots were fired,'' but little else.
''He was seen putting a gun in his pocket after the shooting. He bragged about participating in the fight to others immediately after the shooting. However, he was not seen firing a weapon,'' the judge ruled.
After the shooting, Davis and other teens went to a purported gang hangout on Manchester Road, according to testimony, but no evidence linking Davis to the murder was found there, the ruling stated.
Teodosio also found ''there was no evidence'' from Akron police directly linking Davis to any criminal gang activity or any gang signs, clothing or colors.
A sentencing date for Davis on the delinquency charge of aggravated rioting is pending.
Davis remains in the county's juvenile detention center on Dan Street in Akron, but defense lawyer Scott A. Rilley said he will soon file a motion to have him released.
Rilley said Davis has been in custody since April over allegations lacking ''any solid evidence whatsoever.''
As a former assistant county prosecutor, Rilley said it was ''incomprehensible'' that prosecutors in the Cage case could cut a deal with Feaster ''without a commitment to testify'' in future proceedings.
Ed Meyer can be reached at 330-996-3784 or emeyer@thebeaconjournal.com.
Summit County prosecutors and Akron police presented ''insufficient evidence'' last month to convict a teenager on a delinquency charge of murder and other offenses in the Cage nightclub shooting, a judge ruled Wednesday.
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