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9th District affirms Akron murder co-defendant’s convictions
TRACEY BLAIR
Legal News Reporter
Published: August 10, 2020
The 9th District Court of Appeals has affirmed the convictions of a man’s role in an Akron murder.
Dexter Moore was convicted by a Summit County jury of one count each of complicity to commit felonious assault and one count of obstructing justice. Prior to trial, the state moved to dismiss an aggravated robbery count with a firearm specification against Moore. The jury found Moore not guilty of felonious assault by means of a deadly weapon and firearm specifications.
He was sentenced to five years for felonious assault and three years for obstructing justice, to be served concurrently. The sentence was ordered to be served consecutively to a one-year sentence imposed in a separate matter.
The case stemmed from a fatal shooting on the evening of Nov. 16, 2017. D.A. was shot multiple times on Oakdale Avenue as he was walking home from the Baho Convenience Store.
Moore and his co-defendant, Jerry Alford, were tried together. Alford was convicted of multiple offenses, including murder.
On appeal, Moore argued there is no evidence that he knowingly aided or abetted Alford in the assault on D.A. Moore claimed the state failed to demonstrate that he had any knowledge of Alford’s intentions to carry out an assault or demonstrate that he took any action to hinder the investigation.
However, the appellate court disagreed in a 3-0 decision written by Judge Donna J. Carr.
At trial, the state presented evidence showing the victim walked into the Highland Square Pharmacy around 5:30 p.m. that day and saw his cousin, W.A., who agreed to give D.A. a ride to his apartment on Oakdale Avenue, which was about five minutes away. During the short car ride down West Market Street, D.A. said that, when he was at the bus stop that morning, someone had told him that they were going to shoot him.
D.A. said he did not know the person who made the statement or why it was made. D.A. asked to be dropped off at Baho, which is across the street from his house. When they pulled up to the store, they noticed two men standing outside. D.A. stated that one of the men was the person from the bus stop who said that he would shoot D.A.
At trial, W.A. identified the man who made the threats as Alford. W.A. said he could not see the other man’s face.
As D.A. exited the vehicle and entered the store, the two men in front of the store relocated to the side of the store. W.A. testified that he saw the two men making their way back to the front of the store as he pulled out of the parking lot.
Around that time, the owner of a store on West Market Street called 911 after hearing a gun shot followed by a string of consecutive gunshots. The store owner said she saw a man who was wearing shoes with red soles running down the street. The store owner thought that the footwear was distinctive because only the soles of the shoes were red.
D.A., suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
There were no eye-witnesses to the shooting, but police obtained security video footage from Baho. Moore can be seen in the video wearing shoes with red soles.
Alford’s DNA was found on a cell phone that was discovered near scene. Alford’s DNA was also found in saliva near the scene.
Moore told a detective he was minding his own business that night and was shocked after hearing five gun shots and then finding a body on the ground.
“The state presented evidence that Moore worked cooperatively with Alford in the moments leading up to the shooting,” Carr wrote. “Moore and Alford were standing together in front of Baho, which is in very close proximity to D.A.’s house. The security video from Baho shows that Moore and Alford were communicating with each other as they monitored D.A.’s movements after he entered the store. When D.A. walked out of the store, Moore can be seen tracking D.A. from the doorway and then following after him. Alford followed behind Moore and the shooting occurred approximately 20 seconds later.”