Trial set to begin for Elyria man accused of murder

The trial is set to begin for an Elyria man accused of murder in 2013.

Nicholas D. Masley, 27, will face a pair of murder charges and a single count of felonious assault in connection to the Dec. 14, 2013, death of 25-yearold Jeffrey Brooks, of Wellington.

The trial is scheduled to begin with jury selection at 8:30 a.m. on March 19 before Lorain County Common Pleas Court Judge James L. Miraldi.

According to a summary of the case provided by the Elyria Police Department, on Dec. 12, 2013, officers were dispatched to a home in the 100 block of Delaware Circle in their city for reports that Brooks had been assaulted. They found him on scene after he’d lost consciousness and with visible injuries to his face and head.

The officers spoke to Brooks who said Masley had punched him for “no apparent reason,” and was transported to University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center, 630 East River St., which was then known as EMH, according to the summary.

Officers also spoke to Brooks’ then 19-year-old girlfriend who said that Masley, her cousin, had beaten Brooks for no reason, other than that he believed Brooks had gotten the woman hooked on heroin. The woman denied this was true, the summary said.

Evidence and witness reports gathered during the investigation that confirmed Masley had “sucker punched” Brooks as he was leaving a friend’s home. The punch knocked Brooks unconscious causing him to fall backwards striking his head on the steps, the summary said.

While Brooks was unconscious, Masley struck Brooks two more times as Brooks’ head rested against the stairs. Brooks was allegedly unconscious for 10 to 20 minutes, as Masley fled the area on a bicycle, the summary said.

Brooks was initially in stable condition during his treatment in Elyria, but his condition began to deteriorate leading to his transport via medical helicopter to Metro Health Medical Center in Cleveland where he was declared brain dead on Dec. 3, 2013, and died the next day, according to the summary.

Masley