The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
5 arraigned in murder cases
During an epic-length arraignment hearing Nov. 29, five defendants accused of two murders made video appearances and pleaded not guilty to their charges.
The weekly arraignment hearing at Lorain County Common Pleas Court was extended due to the Thanksgiving holiday cancelling last week’s session.
It took the court nearly 90 minutes to arraign everyone on the eight-page list.
Among those arraigned were the alleged perpetrators of the Oct. 1 shooting death of 20-year-old Zachary Mason in Elyria.
Keeon A. Green Jr., 18, of Elyria, and Lance B. Cheers, 28, of Lorain, both pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder, two counts of aggravated robbery and a single count of tampering with evidence.
Each charge also carries a specification that they possessed a firearm at the time of the killing.
Green and Cheers were indicted Nov. 21.
A third suspect Larry E. Hamilton Jr. 23, of Lorain, also pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder, two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of tampering with evidence and a single count of possessing criminal tools.
Hamilton was secretly indicted Nov. 21 while awaiting trial on a separate robbery charge.
The men are in the Lorain County Jail on $1 million bond a piece. They are scheduled for pretrials at 8:30 a.m., Nov. 30, before Lorain County Common Pleas Court Judge D. Chris Cook.
A man and woman also were arraigned in connection to the Sept. 5 stabbing death of 38-year-old Barry Allen Spreng Jr. of Oberlin.
Phillip H. Tucker, 21, of Paso Robles, Calif., pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated murder, three counts of murder, two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of felonious assault and single counts of theft and receiving stolen property.
All of the counts except for theft include a specification that the offenses took place in a school safety zone.
Gloria L. Watton, 18, of Prescott, Ariz., pleaded not guilty to two counts of complicity to murder, two counts of complicity to aggravated robbery, two counts of complicity to felonious assault and a single count of complicity to theft.
All of the counts except for complicity to theft include a specification that the offense took place in a school safety zone.
A third suspect in the murder, 19-year-old Joshua Hohn, of Elyria, has not yet been indicted in the crime.
Charges are expected once Hohn is released from a hospital in Canadian County, Okla., where he and Tucker were apprehended, authorities have said.
Tucker and Watton are in the Lorain County Jail.
Tucker has a $1 million bond, and Watton has a $2 million bond in the case.
They are scheduled to appear for pretrials at 8:30 a.m., Dec. 3, before Common Pleas Judge Mark A. Betleski.