Widow, son testified they watched Canton man's shooting death outside his home
CANTON ‒ The widow of a man killed in the street in front of their home a year ago testified Tuesday that she saw her husband being shot by a man wearing a red-and-white cap, a white T-shirt and black pants.
Glenda Troyer spoke during the murder trial of Damon A. Mitchell, 21, in Stark County Common Pleas Court.
The Toledo man is accused of fatally shooting Steven Q. Troyer, 55, who was in a vehicle in the 1300 block of Greenfield Avenue SW on March 10, 2023.
Mitchell is also accused of shooting at the son of the deceased, Steven A. Troyer.
Mitchell faces charges of murder, felonious assault and discharge of a firearm on or near prohibited premises. Each charge carries a specification that a gun was used in the crime.
Steven Q. Troyer shot dead in Canton
Under questioning by Assistant County Prosecutor Richard Nicodemo and defense attorney Anthony Koukoutas, Glenda Troyer said she initially told police and her son that she had seen two men looking at his car, but that her initial statements were incorrect, as she had seen only one.
The son, Steven A. Troyer, testified that he had never met or seen the defendant before the morning he shot his father.
Troyer said that he and his father had been shopping when he got the call from his mother. They left the store and went home.
After his father parked his truck, Troyer said, he went to his own red Ford Taurus to move it away from a gold Chevrolet Malibu that was parked in front of it on the street.
Troyer said the Malibu's driver, Mitchell, stood beside his car and told him that the Taurus belonged to his brother, and that he needed to get parts from it.
Troyer said he told the stranger that he had bought the car four years earlier.
He said his father told Mitchell he needed to leave. The son reiterated the message.
Troyer said he then saw Mitchell in the grass near the street, where the defendant held a gun, made eye contact with him and racked the slide of the firearm.
Troyer said Mitchell then walked toward his father, who was still seated in the driver's seat of his truck, and shot him.
Son: Drove away as bullets flew
The son then put his car into drive, ducked and drove. Troyer said he heard gunshots and popped up to see a bullet hole in his windshield. He hit a neighbor's truck, a curb and stopped in a parking lot.
The suspect drove away in the gold Malibu, onto Navarre Road, Troyer said.
Under questioning from the prosecution and defense, Troyer said he did not initially pick out Mitchell from a set of photos presented by Canton police.
He did not initially tell police the perpetrator's hat was red and white, although he said it had a little bit of red on it.
Troyer also said he initially told police there were two people in the Malibu, and that the driver had been given the gun by his passenger. Troyer said he had assumed a passenger provided the gun because his mother said there had been two people.
Troyer did draw for police a tattoo on the defendant's neck. During the trial, Troyer identified two pieces of evidence, the hat and jacket worn by Mitchell, as having been worn by the assailant.
According to a police document filed in the case, security cameras in the area captured the Malibu speeding away from the murder scene until it reached U.S. Route 30.
Stark County Common Pleas Judge Frank G. Forchione is presiding over the trial, which is to continue Wednesday with testimony from a police detective.
Mitchell has pleaded not guilty.
More: Suspect arrested in fatal shooting of Canton driver, now facing murder charge
More: Canton police looking for Chevy Malibu in homicide case
Reach Nancy at 330-580-8382 or nancy.molnar@cantonrep.com. On X, formerly known as Twitter: @nmolnarTR.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Damon Mitchell on trial, charged with killing Steven Q. Troyer in 2023
