'Horseplay'-turned-gunfire ended Lorain man's life in 2016, jury hears

ELYRIA — A strange series of events starting with two adult men "tussling" or engaging in "horseplay" turned into fatal gunfire in Lorain more than three years ago, leaving a retired Lorain autoworker dead on the floor of his own bathroom, a Lorain County Common Pleas jury heard Tuesday. More than three years after Lani "Smitty" Smith was shot and killed in his West Ninth Street home, his alleged killer went on trial Tuesday, defended by an attorney who said it was the victim's brother — not his client — who fired the fatal shot. Defendant Larry Brown, 42, of Louisville, Kentucky, also is known by his legal name Seydi Umar Cisse. He was charged with murder, felonious assault and evidence tampering under the name Larry Brown and is being referred to in court by that name. Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Chris Pierre told jurors Tuesday that Brown arrived in Ohio in July 2016 in a gold Mercedes Benz that carried him, his young son and two other things: guns and a cellphone. Brown "regularly carried a handgun" and also was seen by a witness putting an assault rifle-style firearm in the trunk of his car, Pierre said. Brown also dressed oddly, with Smith's neighbors describing a man in a long robe, scarf and hat in the backyard of Smith's house at 1103 W. Ninth St. in Lorain on occasion. In his opening statement, Pierre said Brown shot and killed Smith, age 66, as the two "tussled" or were "slap-fighting" in Smith's home sometime between 9 and 10 a.m. on July 14, 2016. Brown and Smith are not blood relatives, despite Smith sometimes being referred to as Brown's "uncle" by attorneys in the case. Pierre said Brown's younger sister is Smith's niece. The third man in the house and the only other witness to the shooting was Smith's 56-year-old brother Scott Fowler, who was eating a sandwich in the kitchen of the house he shared with Smith when he heard a gunshot. That's when Brown walked back into the kitchen, his robe covered in blood, and pointed a gun at Fowler with a "scary or crazed look" in his eyes, Pierre said. "Shocked, confused and scared he was about to be shot," Fowler went along with Brown when Brown pointed the gun at him and said "let's go" before following Fowler out to Brown's Mercedes. Brown also allegedly told Fowler: "I had to do that MF'er," Pierre told jurors, though Fowler did not see his brother's body in the bathroom of the home, dead from a single gunshot wound to the chest. The alleged killer and Fowler then took a more-than two-hour road trip around Lorain and Amherst — first to a car wash on Leavitt Road where Brown changed into a black, long-sleeve zip-up jacket and got rid of his bloody robe, then to Fowler's mother's house on Highland Park Drive, then to a convenience store, a gas station and finally the Fifth Third Bank on North Leavitt Road in Amherst. Brown tried but failed to get money from the ATM before going inside, leaving his gun in the trunk of the car when he did and giving Fowler a chance to get away, Pierre said. Having tried to get a $1,000 cash advance at the bank and failing, Brown settled for taking out $500 under his legal name with his Kentucky ID, got in his car and fled to Maryland, Pierre said. Fowler returned to the bank and asked the manager to call police. Former Amherst police Sgt. Troy Donaldson was the first officer on the scene, and he took the "very distraught" Fowler's statement in the manager's office, he testified Tuesday. He also obtained the bank's video surveillance footage and identified Brown from bank documents before handing Fowler and the case over to the Lorain Police Department. Brown later was arrested in Maryland and brought back to Ohio for trial. Police never recovered the alleged murder weapon, Pierre said, but Brown's cellphone places him at the murder scene and other locations important in the state's case. Defense opening In his opening, defense attorney Kenneth Lieux had a different theory behind the crime. "I'll get right to it. Larry Brown didn't shoot Lani Smith," he said. "The evidence will show Scott Fowler shot Lani Smith." Lieux said Fowler's story to Amherst and Lorain police was "probably version No. 6" of what occurred that day. How the gun fired, who fired it and why are all facts in dispute, he said. The only facts not in dispute, Lieux said, are that "a gun fired" and "the bullet caused the death of Lani Smith." To spell that out for the jury, he wrote those facts on a whiteboard with a blue marker. Lieux said the prosecution is relying on "theories" and "certain inferences of behavior" to build its case against his client. Fowler "told multiple stories daily, hourly and over time" before finally setting on the version being used at trial during a meeting with Pierre and Lorain police investigator Detective Sgt. Dennis Camarillo in August 2017, Lieux said. Brown has been held in Lorain County Jail on $600,000 cash bond. He showed little reaction to the events in court on Tuesday. A jury of 10 women and four men, with two to serve as alternate jurors, was picked by midafternoon Tuesday. Judge Chris Cook, who is overseeing the case, told jurors and the parties involved he expects the trial to last into next week. Expected to testify during the trial are Lorain police investigators, Smith's neighbors, the bank manager Fowler told about his brother's shooting and members of the Brown and Smith families. Testimony resumes Wednesday morning. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him at @daveobrienCT on Twitter.