The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Defendant takes stand in Lorain murder trial
Cleveland man claims uncharged accomplices committed Lorain murder
Abline Cannon smiled as he approached the witness stand Aug. 23 during his murder trial in Lorain County Common Pleas Court.
Cannon, 38, of Cleveland, is facing a charge of aggravated murder, two counts of murder, one count of kidnapping, two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of aggravated burglary, three counts of felonious assault, a single count of tampering with evidence and two counts of having weapons under disability in connection to the Dec. 10, 2016, shooting death of 23-year-old David Barreiro in his Lorain apartment.
Under direct-examination, Cannon echoed many of the points Lorain defense attorney James Burge made in his opening statement in the case Aug. 20 shifting the blame to three other men who have not been charged in connection to the crime.
The Morning Journal does not name those accused of crimes who have not been charged in the case.
Cannon, a 10th-grade high school dropout who admitted to selling drugs for the past 20 years, was the final witness in his trial.
He said he came to Lorain County on Dec. 9, 2016, to meet with a man he claimed sells drugs in the area on his behalf.
After picking up the man in Elyria, the pair traveled to Lorain to make contact with a 27-year-old Elyria man to whom Cannon’s local representative regularly sold drugs.
This man claimed he knew Barreiro was trying to purchase 2 ounces of heroin, street value $5,000, which Cannon had in his possession.
Cannon and his local representative traveled to a bar on 28th Street in Lorain where they were met by the local representative’s customer and another 27-yearold Elyria man.
He testified he knew neither of these men.
Cannon said his local representative gave him directions to Barreiro’s apartment and the quartet traveled there in his leased Jeep Patriot.
Upon arrival, Cannon and his local representative’s customer entered the house where the customer allegedly purchased some Percocet pills from Daniel Barreiro, David Barreiro’s twin brother who was sleeping on his brother’s couch that night.
As Cannon and David Barreiro allegedly began discussing the heroin deal, Cannon’s local representative and the 27-year-old Elyria man kicked in the door to the apartment and attempted to rob the inhabitants.
Cannon said when the shooting started, he hit the ground, then made his way to the door and was shot in his right arm, but he was unsure who fired the bullet. He said he exited the apartment, behind his local representative’s customer and instead of running directly to his vehicle, moved behind a nearby building in the complex to determine whether he wanted to get in the SUV or not.
Cannon said his local representative then opened the back door of the vehicle and motioned for him to get in.
He did so, and was driven to University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center.
Cannon told jurors he was dropped off at the emergency room and his local representative drove off in the Jeep along with Cannon’s 2 ounces of heroin.
He said the bullet in his arm could not be removed as it was on an artery and he was transported to MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland where doctors wished to keep him for 24 hours to monitor his condition.
Cannon testified he signed himself out a few hours later and was driven away by his mother and sister.
When asked by Burge why he fled, Cannon said that he was worried about being charged for the drug deal.
Cannon also denied carrying a gun during his drug deals, saying he doesn’t deal with people he thinks may rob him.
“(Expletive), that’s another charge,” he said referencing the fact that as a convicted felon, he is barred from owning a firearm.
Under cross-examination by Lorain County Assistant Prosecutor Tony Cillo, Cannon was less cooperative.
He repeatedly ignored Cillo’s questions, refuted any assertions and more than once asked questions of the prosecutor.
When asked by Cillo why he repeatedly lied to police and hospital personnel about how and where he was shot while receiving treatment, Cannon said he didn’t want to be arrested for the drug deal.
Cillo pressed on why he would be worried about drug charges after he already had served time on several trafficking cases in the past.
Cillo and Cannon also sparred over his location in the apartment when he was shot.
Cannon testified he was moving toward the door, but Cillo reminded Cannon of evidence earlier in the trial by Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations scientists that the ballistics, coupled with the angle he was shot at, made that impossible.
At this exchange, a man in the back of the courtroom stood up and yelled to Cannon.
“Don’t let them put words in your mouth, man,” he said making his way out of the courtroom.
Common Pleas Court Judge D. Christopher Cook ordered the man removed from the building.
When Cillo asked why — if what Cannon was saying was true — his attorneys had not subpoenaed the three men he claims were present during the incident.
Cannon responded he didn’t know.
The issue came up again during Burge’s redirect of Cannon.
When Burge asked Cannon whether he thought his attorneys had made a mistake by not subpoenaing the men, Cannon paused a moment, made a face and then answered. “I don’t know,” he said. The trial will conclude with closing arguments Aug. 27, before Cook.