JURY GETS LORAIN MURDER CASE

Lorain man accused in resident’s death

A Lorain County jury will now decide the fate of a 42-year-old Lorain man accused of killing Todd Dais on the morning of Jan. 1.

Marlon J. Johnson is facing three counts of aggravated murder, three counts of murder, two counts of aggravated burglary, two counts of felonious assault, two counts of weapons under disability and a single count of unlawful use of a firearm by a violent career criminal in connection to Dais’ shooting death in a West 22nd Street home in Lorain.

After attorneys for both the defense and prosecution rested their cases the day before, courtroom proceedings picked back up the afternoon of April 19 with closing arguments.

Lorain County Assistant Prosecutor Anthony Cillo said Johnson shot and killed Dais because he was a large, imposing man known to keep the back door of the home secure and would have served as an impediment to Johnson making it further into the home where he was searching for his girlfriend.

Both sets of attorneys and each of the witnesses have said throughout the trial that Johnson had been ejected from the home earlier in the wee hours of Jan. 1 after physically trying to

“The cold, hard, ugly truth of the case is that the defendant made the decision to go back into a house where he wasn’t wanted.”

— Lorain County Assistant Prosecutor Anthony Cillo

remove his girlfriend from the residence.

According to Cillo, despite Johnson’s claim to the contrary, he was aware that he wasn’t welcome into the home when he returned later along with 45-yearold Tywan Perry, who is also facing a slew of charges in connection to the incident, and killed Dais.

Cillo said, if Perry had killed Dais, there was no reason for the multiple people who were in the home to testify that Johnson was the triggerman, citing their lack of connection to Perry and the visual dissimilarities between the 6-foot, 240-pound Johnson and the “diminutive” 5-foot, 4-inch Perry.

“The cold, hard, ugly truth of the case is that the defendant made the decision to go back into a house where he wasn’t wanted,” Cillo said. “He didn’t like how he was treated earlier. He came back this time with a gun. He forced his way in and killed Todd Dais and looked for the girl that he was unable to assault earlier and drag out.”

Defense attorney Michael Camera said he didn’t blame the Lorain Police Department or Lorain Det. Sgt. Buddy Sivert for charging Johnson with the crime because of the statements of witnesses within the home, but that those witnesses aren’t to be trusted and that Perry was the true triggerman.

He spent most of the time attacking the testimony of 39-year-old Melissa Dolin, who was attempting to leave with Dais and was the nearest to the room where the shooting occurred. She claimed Johnson had fired at Dais as soon as he forced his way into the home.

According to Camera, Dolin is a drug addict whose word shouldn’t be taken at face value. He highlighted her inconsistent statements to police on whether she’d used drugs or drank the night of the crime.

He cited her claim she and Dais were leaving for cigarettes, condoms and papers used to prepare marijuana for smoking and her claim she went to the bathroom just before leaving as proof she may have been drinking and/or using drugs the night of the crime.

He cited testimony from Dr. Frank Miller, chief deputy coroner for Lorain County, in which he said there was no gunshot residue or stippling on Dais’ body, to rebut Dolin’s statement she saw Johnson shoot Dais from short range.

Camera also repeated the claim William Malone, who lives in the home, was mistaken when he believed Johnson confessed to the murder within minutes of the shooting.

“Ty shot Todd D.,” Camera claims Johnson said. “Ty, not I.”

Ultimately, Camera laid the whole crime at the feet of Perry.

“I call this ‘The Interloper Case,’ ” Camera said. “(All the times Johnson and his girlfriend had been in the house) nobody got shot, nobody got robbed. The very first time the interloper shows up, Tywan Perry, what happened? Somebody gets shot. Ty is the shooter.”

In her rebuttal, Lorain County Assistant Prosecutor Laura Dezort emphasized everyone in the house fingered Johnson as the triggerman despite them having no connection to the man.

“He’s the one they saw,” she said pointing to Johnson. “He’s the shooter.”

The jury will begin deliberations on April 20.

ERIC BONZAR — THE MORNING JOURNAL During closing arguments in the case against 42-year-old Marlon J. Johnson, of Lorain, April 19, assistant Lorain County Prosecutors Laura Dezort, pictured, and Anthony Cillo argued Johnson was an interloper; a trespasser who forced his way into a West...

ERIC BONZAR — THE MORNING JOURNAL Marlon J. Johnson, 42, of Lorain, appears alongside attorneys Kenneth N. Ortner, left, and Michael J. Camera in Lorain County Court of Common Pleas Judge James L. Miraldi’s courtroom for closing arguments April 19. Johnson is on trial for the Jan. 1...