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Shooting trial under way in common pleas court

STEUBENVILLE – A Jefferson County Common Pleas Court jury heard several witnesses Thursday in the shooting trial of Tajh M. Jackson, 23, of Steubenville, who was indicted on two counts of felonious assault, each with a firearm specification, and having a weapon under disability.

Three people were shot at the Heritage Place Apartments, also known as the Market Square Apartments, on June 9, including a father and his 5-year-old son who were bystanders, City Police reported. The father, Guillermo Hernandez, 35, of 815 Market St. was taken to Trinity Medical Center West, where he was treated and released after a bullet grazed him, and the son, Cruzito Hernandez, was transported to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh after suffering a gunshot wound to the lower leg.

The intended victim of the shooting, Torrance Lyda, 21, of Steubenville was hit multiple times with bullets and flown by a medical helicopter to a Pittsburgh hospital, police reported.

Police reported at least 10 shots were fired.

Jackson was indicted in July but was not arrested until December in Las Vegas.

Prosecutor Jane Hanlin told the jury in opening statements that Lyda was shot nine times. She said Jackson was convicted in a drug case in 2011 and was not allowed to carry a gun. Hanlin said there was “bad blood” between Jackson and Lyda. Jackson is from Steubenville, and Lyda is from Chicago.

Both men exchanged words in the parking lot of the Market Street apartments and both went separate ways, Hanlin said. She said Jackson returned and opened fire on Lyda. She said Lyda, who also was armed, wasn’t able to pull his gun out because of his injuries. Lyda stumbled to a stairwell inside the apartment complex, where one of his friends took his gun, Hanlin said.

Jackson ran to another parking lot at the apartment complex and got into a car, which fled the area, reports showed. That car, a yellow Chevrolet Cavalier, was found at a house on Valley Glen Road in the Goulds area about three hours after the shootings.

Defense attorney Wesley Buchanan of Akron told members of the jury they will have to ask themselves if Jackson was defending himself from Lyda. Buchanan said Lyda pulled out a gun during the argument prior to the shooting. Buchanan said Lyda’s gun jammed and Jackson was faced with a life-or-death decision.

But Hanlin said there can’t be a claim of self-defense because Jackson left the parking lot and then returned.

“This is an ugly case. You may not like the witnesses. Perhaps with the exception of the 5-year-old boy and his father, there is no innocence here. Your job is decide the guilt of only one person,” she told the jury.

City Police Sgt. Brian Bissett said he responded to the shooting scene and was approached by Tashonda Birden, who lives at the apartment complex. Bissett said Birden identified Jackson as the shooter.

(Law can be contacted at mlaw@heraldstaronline.com.)

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