The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Detective testifies in murder trial
Man accused in death of Painesville Twp. man in 2013
The second day of Timothy Markel Gaston’s murder trial began with Lake County Sheriff’s Detective John Kelley taking the stand.
Kelley was second on the scene at Huntington Trailer Park in Painesville Township shortly before 4 a.m. July 26, 2013.
Sheriff’s Deputy Joe Basco already had his gun drawn on the front door of the home, waiting for backup.
“We could hear a hysterical female inside screaming. We didn’t know exactly what was going on,” Kelley told the Lake County Common Pleas Court jury.
After finding signs of forced entry, the two SWAT team members approached the blood-spattered front door.
“I noticed a Caucasian male victim lying on the floor in the kitchen in a large pool of blood,” Kelley said. “A female was covered in blood from the neck down. She was hysterical. She was screaming, she was shouting, she was begging for help. She said, ‘Please help him!’ “
At the time, 23-year-old Matthew Hammond was still breathing.
“I was standing over the victim in the kitchen,” the detective added. “His eyes were staring up at me. He had a massive amount of blood. He had blood coming out of his mouth. While I was standing over him, he took his last breath while he was looking at me.”
Hammond was pronounced dead at TriPoint Medical Center in Concord Township.
Painesville Township Firefighter/Paramedic Chad Tekavic also was called to respond to the incident.
“We see the gentleman lying on the floor. It was a very, very bad scene,” Tekavic said. “The patient was lying flat on his back. He was obviously in serious trouble. The patient was not breathing. We started CPR and oxygen.
“The scene was very chaotic. He was covered in blood from the head down. He had a massive injury on his chin, and he had multiple abrasions about his face and head.”
Dr. Joseph Felo, chief deputy medical examiner and forensic pathologist for the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office, supervised Hammond’s autopsy.
Felo testified that Hammond suffered a single gunshot wound to the chin. The bullet then traveled through his lower right lung, causing internal bleeding and other injuries.
Felo said Hammond testified positive for marijuana but no other illegal drugs.
The bullet was retrieved and was most likely fired from a Rossi .38 Special or .357 Magnum revolver, said Jonathan Gardner, a forensic scientist with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Gaston, a 29-year-old Knoxville, Tennessee, man, faces life in prison if convicted of aggravated murder and 14 other counts.
Defense attorney Paul H. Hentemann said Gaston — who previously lived in Painesville — agreed to go to the apartment that day to help two other men rob the victim.
However, Gaston denies harming Hammond.
Gaston has been in Lake County Jail on a $1 million cash bond since he was arrested on a warrant on April 7, 2014.
The victim’s girlfriend called 911 after witnessing Hammond being beaten, held down and then shot with a revolver by two men wearing hooded sweatshirts, Assistant Lake County Prosecutor Rocco DiPierro Jr. said.
Testimony in the case was expected to continue June 1 before Judge Vincent A. Culotta.