An Akron man is on trial for murder … again.
A Summit County jury deadlocked in 2013 about whether Marcus L. Turner was responsible for the shooting death of another man during an argument that September. Fast forward 2½ years and several appeals, and prosecutors are now trying the case a second time.
This time, Turner, 39, of Akron, is on trial for only two charges: murder and felonious assault. The original jury in November 2013 found him not guilty of aggravated murder and guilty of having weapons while under disability. He is currently serving a three-year prison sentence for the disability charge.
Retired Judge H.F. Inderlied Jr., a visiting judge, is presiding over the new trial, which is expected to take four days.
Before the trial started, jurors visited a courtyard between two apartment complexes in the 1400 block of Alphada Avenue in Akron, near Brittain Road and East Tallmadge Avenue, where the shooting occurred. Prosecutors allege Turner shot and killed Amandeep Singh, 21, a native of India, on Sept. 12, 2013, during a quarrel.
Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Jonathan Baumoel, who didn’t try the case in 2013, told the new panel of jurors during his opening statement Tuesday afternoon that Turner sought revenge against Singh because he thought Singh was one of two men responsible for breaking into his apartment and stealing his television, laptop and Wii gaming system.
“He was mad,” Baumoel said. “His place had been burglarized and he got his revenge. Now, it’s time to hold him responsible.”
Baumoel said Singh, whose nickname was “Ace,” was one of two people Turner told police he thought had burglarized his apartment. He said Turner’s other suspect was Carlton Smith, who will be the prosecution’s key witness in the trial.
Smith has denied Turner’s allegations. Neither he nor Singh were charged with the burglary.
Smith, who, Baumoel told jurors, has been given the promise of a three-month reduction in the prison sentence he is serving in exchange for his testimony, told prosecutors that Turner came to his apartment armed with a gun earlier on the day of the shooting and tried to get him to come out of his apartment. Smith stayed put.
Baumoel said Smith and Singh left the apartment to get cigarettes later that night, with Singh in the lead, and Smith saw Turner with a gun.
Smith fled back to his apartment and then heard gunshots, Baumoel said.
“Back when this happened, he [Smith] immediately told police what happened and identified Marcus Turner as the shooter,” Baumoel said.
Another neighbor heard gunshots, saw Singh lying on the ground but wasn’t able to identify the shooter, Baumoel said. Police officers searched the shooting scene but found no shell casings or bullets. He said Turner was seen after the shooting in a black hoodie that matched the description of what the shooter was wearing.
Don Hicks, one of Turner’s two defense attorneys, told jurors that Turner has admitted to being upset about his apartment being broken into but has denied being responsible for the shooting from the start. He said the prosecution is primarily relying on the word of Smith, a convicted felon who is being rewarded for his testimony. He urged jurors to question the truth of what Smith tells them.
“All of what Carlton Smith states is subject to great scrutiny,” said Hicks, who wasn’t Turner’s attorney during the first trial. “He is manipulative, cunning. That is the source of the claim against Marcus.”
Hicks said the police rushed to judgment that Turner was responsible for the shooting.
“The state jumped the gun,” Hicks said. “There was not the full-blown, necessary investigation which would have been appropriate.”
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705 or swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @swarsmithabj and on Facebook: www.facebook.com/swarsmith.