Witnesses recount deadly fight on 3rd day of trial

ONEIDA, N.Y. » The nature of a fist fight turned deadly was a contentious issue on the third day of testimony in the murder trial of Isaac Cantu.

The prosecution seated several witnesses Friday who described the Sept. 18, 2016, fight that led to the death of Francis Borasky, 35, who was stabbed three times in the chest and stomach that night.

Cantu is facing charges of second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, first- degree assault and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon in relation to the death.

Chad Chesebro, who lived at 327 Pleasant Ave., said he saw a shadowy commotion in Borasky’s driveway that evening. After going outside to check, Chesebro testified, he saw Borasky run down the street toward Lexington Avenue and gave chase because he’d heard someone yell “help.”

They ran until they reached 227 Lexington Ave., at which point, Chesebro said, Borasky called the cops. Afterward, he said, Borasky went up the stairs of the residence to the door, at which point he said Jordan Warner stepped outside and “started swinging” at the victim. The fight eventually moved away from the house and toward Pearl Street, Chesebro testified. He said he could also hear Borasky’s wife, Cassy Mills, arguing on the side of the road, but said he never took his eyes off Borasky.

Warner was originally charged with first-degree assault, but took a plea deal earlier this year in exchange for second- degree assault and the promise to testify against Cantu at trial.

At the time, Chesebro did not know Warner, and was only able to identify him as the person who punched Borasky because he learned of his identity at a later date. He also said he did not know Cantu and could not identify him in the courtroom, but was able to describe what the accused looked like the night of Sept. 18.

During his testimony, Chesebro said he only saw Warner hit Borasky inthe face, but said Cantu “jumped into the fight from behind and swung two times in the chest area.” Chesebro said he never saw Cantu hit Borasky’s face.

After Cantu jumped in, Chesebro said, Borasky “started stumbling toward the grass” and heard Borasky say “he knocked me out” before he collapsed. Chesebro said Borasky then crawled on all fours a few more feet before collapsing again.

“I thought he was just knocked out and rolled him to his side,” Chesebro said. When Borasky didn’t respond, thewit- ness said he rolled Borasky onto his back and that’s when he saw his shirt was bloody. Lifting Borasky’s shirt, Chesebro said he saw stab wounds.

“I stayed by his side until the police arrived,” Chesebro said. He said he did not check Borasky’s pulse.

While trying to care for Borasky, Chesebro said, he was approached by another man who told himto get off his property. He said the two teens who had fought Borasky — and whom he did not know at the time — also approached the scene. Chesebro said he heard one of them say “We’re from the hood, wedo things the hood way.” He could not identify who spoke.

After Borasky was taken to Oneida Healthcare by EMTs, Chesebro said, he stayed behind “but there was nothing else I could do.”

Defense attorney Michael Vavonese contested Chesebro’s depiction of the fight, noting how his original statement to police on Sept .18 did not mention where Warner or Cantu hit Borasky while they were at 227 Lexington Ave.

“You never said a word,” Vavonese said.

“I forgot some details that night, with everything going on,” Chesebro said.

“You thought that was a minor detail?” Vavonese contested.

“Not a minor detail,” Chesebro replied. “I was still trying to wrap my head around it.”

Chesebro said that, at the time, he wasn’t asked for a detailed description of who hit whom where, but that he was asked for those details later. Vavonese pointed out that the original statement to police included details about Borasky being punched in the face during the original commotion outside his home, but nothing about where he was punched “with respect to the important incident.”

“You were able to wrap your head around it months later, but not that night?” Vavonese asked.

Assistant District Attorney Bob Mascari noted that Chesebro held Borasky as he died and asked if the witness had ever experienced anything similar. Chesebro said he had once before, when he served overseas in the Army.

Former neighbor David Randall also took the stand on Friday. He said he was with his friend, Josh Jeck, when they “ended up seeing some kids and heard so me music, and a couple minutes later ended up seeing them jump Francis inhis yard.”

He said they rushed over to help and the kids ran off. Borasky got up to chase after them, so Randall followed with Jeck. He said Chesebro eventually joined up with them.

Randall said that, when they reached 227 Lexington Ave., he saw Mills hit the front door with a baseball bat, but didn’t recall hearing anything break. He said two people came outside and ordered them to get off the yard, then two teenagers Randall had never seen before came out.

Randall described one teen as tall and skinny, and the other as shorter, with a little longer hair and heavier. He said he could not identify the shorter one “as he looked that night,” but did point to Cantu in the courtroom and identified him as the same person.

Randall said the taller teen started fighting with Borasky and that the shorter teen got involved later, throwing low punches and body shots. He said he thought Francis got knocked out because he fell down, tried getting up, and then fell again. By that point, a crowd was forming, and Randall said that’s also around when they saw blood.

Vavonese noted that, in Randall’s original statement to police, given on the night of Sept. 18, he said he “lost view” of Borasky during the fight. Randall said there were a lot of people around and that it was possible someone had stepped in front of him for a few seconds at most, but that hewas always watching the fight.

“It all happened quick,” he said. “I didn’t lose total view of it.

His original comment to police also did not distinguish who punched whom where.

Neither Chesebro nor Randall said they spoke to anyone about the night in the 18 months since the incident, save when they met with prosecutors.

“Were you told who was punching who” during that meeting, Mascari asked.

Randall said no, he was not, and that when he was interviewed by police he wasn’t asked for that detail.

Logan Chesebro, 22, of 226 Lexington Ave., also testified about the night of Sept. 18. He said hewas in his house across the street from 227 Lexington Ave. around 8 p.m. when he heard a loud noise and ran out onto his front porch to seewhat had happened.

“I saw a man on the ground. I saw two teenagers standing over the man. They were yelling obscenities at him,” Logan Chesebro.

He said he recognized Cantu, but not the other teen with him. He described the other teen as taller and thinner. He said the two teens ran off, but he didn’t see where they went. Logan Chesebro said he never actually went across the street to see whowas on the ground.

Vavonese pointed out that Logan Chesebro did not speak to police the night of the incident, but waited until Oct. 27 to speak with Oneida City Police. During that interview, Logan Chesebro told police the first thing he heard was “Ohmygod they stabbed him.” Logan Chesebro told police he thought it was Cantu who did it.

His statement to police also did not include him going out onto the porch.

“It was pitch dark that night, right?” Vavonese asked. “But you say you saw two kids and Francis’ wife?”

Logan Chesebro also said he had known Cantu for a few years and, in 2014, had seen Cantu with a knife similar to the murder weapon retrieved at the scene. He said he’d never known Cantu to be violent or to hurt anyone, but that he “talked crap” to him that day in 2014, flashing the knife while he did so.

“I wasn’t too concerned about it,” said Logan Chesebro. “That kid’s been talking his whole life.”

Oneida Police Officer Troy Tiller took photos the night of Sept. 18 after being called in on his day off to assist in the murder investigation. He documented the scene around 10 p.m. after everyone except police had left the premises. He also took photos of Borasky’s body at Oneida Healthcare before he was taken to the Onondaga County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Some of his photos included the knife found at the scene, as well as several old and discarded knives near the home. He also took photos of Cantu’s bedroom, where another folding knife was found on a desk. Neither the discarded knives nor the one in Cantu’s room were ever retrieved by police, as they were deemed irrelevant to the case, he said.

Dr. Robert Stoppacher from the Onondaga County Medical Examiner’s officer testified on Thursday with regards to Borasky’s autopsy, although Dr. Kenneth Clark was the pathologist who performed the autopsy. Clark left the office at the end of 2016 on good terms. It is not uncommon for another pathologist to testify about the results of another’s work, Stoppacher said.

Stoppacher said Borasky’s body was documented to have three stab wounds, two to the chest and one to the stomach. While there was no way of knowing what stab wound was ”inflicted first, Stoppacher went through the damage caused by each wound from top to bottom. The highest stab, located in the center of Borasky’s chest, went through the second rib where rib meets breastplate and punctured the heart and aorta behind it. Internal bleeding was noted in the chest cavity. The second stab was located at the fifth rib and went into tissue between heart and breastbone and stopped before hitting the heart. The third stab — to the upper abdomen on the right — went through muscle and into the right liver, causing more internal bleeding. “Injury one, in my opinion, is a non-survivable injury, even with immediate medical attention,” Stoppacher said, referring to the wound to Borasky’s heart. The blade had penetrated the pericardium and blood had pooled around Borasky’s heart and caused a condition called cardiac tamponade. The pressure of the escaping blood around the heart created pressure and inhibited the heart’s ability to pump. “That wound, as it is inflicted, is someone going to immediately drop to the ground?” Assistant District Attorney Robert Mascari asked. Stoppacher said there was no indication thatwas the case. Besides the apparent stab wounds, Borasky also suffered a number of bruises to the face that were consistent with a fist fight, Stoppacher said. Cantu’s trial will continue on Monday at 9:30 a.m.