Prosecutors rest case in Bagnall trial | News

MERCER – The prosecution rested its case Thursday in the Michael D. Bagnall murder case after a day of putting out fires and trying to convince the jury a former fellow inmate of the defendant should be taken seriously.

Bagnall is charged with first- and third-degree murder and aggravated assault in the Feb. 28, 2015, shooting death of Jaylen “Bubby” West on Quinby Street in Sharon.

The men attended a birthday party for Bagnall at the home of Bagnall’s sister, Anna Johnson, on Quinby Street. West was found dead next door.

In the fourth day of testimony, Deputy Attorneys General Patrick J. Schulte and Bobbi Jo C. Wagner presented the many stories of Jawuan Hawkins, who was at the party.

Sharon police Capt. Travis Martwinski testified that he interviewed Hawkins about the events that night, and Hawkins said he had passed out from drinking.

“He did not hear anything that happened at the apartment,” Martwinski said.

However, when Martwinski told him police were preparing to get an arrest warrant for Bagnall, Hawkins piped up that Bagnall “didn’t shoot that dude.”

Hawkins testified Thursday that he was “couldn’t move drunk,” did not witness any altercations and did not see any shootings.

That’s not the story he told in May, when he was interviewed by two agents with the attorney general’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, testified one of the agents, Gregory Matthews.

After Johnson found that about $600 was missing, Bagnall became angry and he had a confrontation with West, Matthews said Hawkins told him.

Also according to Matthews’ account of what Hawkins told him: Bagnall moved aggressively at West. Bagnall’s girlfriend stepped in front of Bagnall but he knocked her and Hawkins to the floor.

“He definitely said Bagnall was more of the aggressor,” Matthews testified, and Bagnall got West on the floor and choked him.

Bagnall pulled out a gun and shot West while West was on the floor, Matthews said Hawkins told him. Bagnall allowed West to get up and then fired three or four more shots at him, Matthew said Hawkins told him.

West also had a gun that night and had removed it from where he had it “but did not show it in a threatening manner,” Matthews said of Hawkins’ story.

When Matthews asked Hawkins why he did not tell police this story, “He was very clear that his friendship with the defendant caused him not to speak of it,” Matthews said.

When asked Thursday about the relationship with Bagnall, Hawkins said, “We went to school.”

Prosecutors completed their testimony with Matthew Kelley, who served time in Mercer County Jail in the spring and summer of 2015 with Bagnall.

They became friendly researching in the jail’s law library, Kelley said.

Kelley said Bagnall told him: “There was a confrontation over money and he killed Bubby West,” Kelley said.

Bagnall said self-defense “was the claim he was going for,” but that was not what happened, Kelley said.

Bagnall said he believed he could get off, Kelley said.

“Most of them (prosecution witnesses) are crackheads and most won’t stand testimony because he has a good lawyer,” Kelley said Bagnall told him.

Bagnall claimed he fled to Cleveland and then Pittsburgh, Kelley said, and Martwinski testified about working with Sprint to track Bagnall’s cellphone, recording “pings” in Youngstown and Niles, Ohio, and then the area of Pittsburgh where U.S. marshals eventually arrested him on March 3.

Martwinski added it was some hours preparing an application to Sprint and waiting for the company’s approval before it granted permission.

Kelley said Bagnall told him he ditched the gun on a storm drain in Pittsburgh. Police said they searched a storm drain but never recovered a weapon.

Kelley has two cases pending, charging him with burglary and theft, and has several convictions on his record. He said he notified the Mercer County District Attorney’s Office of his evidence “of my own free will,” and that Bagnall had threatened to kill him or have him killed if he comes forward.

He said he has no deal with in place with prosecutors or police and expects to receive nothing in return.

When asked why he decided to testify, Kelley said, “Through prayer. This is a hard thing to do, believe it or not. I believe in God. This is the right thing to do.”

Kelley blamed his legal troubles on “abusing drugs.”

Bagnall’s attorney, Stanley T. Booker, will present the defense today. He said he did not know if he would call Bagnall to testify.

Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge Daniel P. Wallace told the jury his plan is to present closing arguments and the jury charge in the afternoon, but that things could change if Booker’s case goes beyond the morning or the prosecution presents rebuttal witnesses.

Wallace told the jury to bring an overnight bag in case they begin deliberating today and do not reach a verdict.