The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Jury: Man guilty on all counts
Tennessee man convicted in 2013 deadly Painesville Township home invasion
After deliberating nearly 29 hours over five days, a jury has found a Tennessee man on trial in a deadly Painesville Township home invasion guilty of all 15 counts.
Timothy Markel Gaston, 29, went on trial May 30 in Lake County Common Pleas Court for the death of 23-year-old Matthew “Matty” Hammond.
Prosecutors said Gaston was one of two men who burst into the victim’s trailer shortly before 4 a.m. on July 26, 2013, to rob Hammond, a marijuana dealer.
One of the men shot the victim once in the chin.
“This was a heinous crime,” Lake County Prosecutor Charles Coulson said after the verdict was announced on June 9. “Crime doesn’t get much worse than kicking down a front door in the middle of the night to rob and murder the victim while they are sleeping in their home. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is to be commended for
not giving up on this difficult case and finding the evidence to bring this murderer to justice.”
Gaston argued he was not the shooter and fled on foot after the theft plan began to go wrong.
A jury began deliberating the case June 5.
Gaston was found guilty on one count each of aggravated murder and burglary; two counts each of murder, aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, robbery and felonious assault, plus three counts of kidnapping.
Gaston faces life in prison when he is sentenced by Judge Vincent A. Culotta. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
Gaston’s $1 million cash bond has been revoked.
Nobody else has been charged in the case and the weapon has not been recovered.
Painesville resident Chris Lee was one of several longtime friends of Gaston’s who attended the entire trial, including deliberations.
“What happens to the other person?” Lee wondered after the verdict. “The one that they say was the murderer?”
None of the victim’s friends or family members who were present in the courtroom wished to comment.
Paul H. Hentemann, Gaston’s defense attorney, was not immediately available for comment. Hentemann was not able to attend the verdict reading and sent defense attorney Paul Malchesky in his place.
Malchesky asked to poll each of the jurors about their guilty convictions.
Most of the jurors appeared visibly upset during the verdict reading. Several of them openly sobbed before leaving the courtroom.
“I appreciate that the jury took their time to thoroughly deliberate this case,” Coulson said.