No verdict after one day of jury deliberations in third Ivan Brooks murder trial

Jurors deciding murder charges against Ivan Brooks ended their first day of deliberations in Lorain County Common Pleas Court on Friday without reaching a verdict. Following nearly two weeks of testimony in Judge Melissa Kobasher's courtroom, the jury of 12 was handed the case against Brooks, 39, of Lorain, on Thursday afternoon. They began their deliberations Friday morning. By 2:45 p.m., they informed Kobasher that they were deadlocked. "We have reviewed the evidence several times and can't come to a consensus," jurors wrote in a note that Kobasher read aloud in court. "What happens if we can't agree?" Kobasher brought the jurors into the courtroom and read them their first "Howard charge," a statement that encourages them to continue deliberating and, if they can, resolve their differences in order to reach a verdict. The jurors deliberated for two more hours before they were brought back into the courtroom just before 5 p.m. Kobasher gave them two options: Continue deliberating into Friday evening or come back on Monday. Through the jury forewoman, jurors said they preferred to continue deliberations on Monday. "The jury feels that we are having productive discussions," the forewoman told Kobasher in open court. "We feel strongly that the victim deserves justice and the defendant deserves a fair trial and full consideration of the evidence, and we feel that more time is needed." Kobasher ordered the jury not to discuss the case with anyone over the weekend and to come back and resume deliberations Monday morning. Background This is the third jury that has been asked to consider Brooks' guilt or innocence. Two previous trials ended in mistrials after those juries couldn't reach verdicts — one in Judge James Miraldi's courtroom in November 2021 and one in Kobasher's courtroom in June. Brooks has been held on bond in the Lorain County Jail for more than four years on charges of aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, improperly discharging a firearm, and related specifications. The lone alleged eyewitness to the crime, Elyria police investigators and the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office claim Brooks shot and killed 45-year-old Terrence Taylor in the entryway of 841 Broad St. in Elyria on March 19, 2019. Byanka Tavarez, who was Taylor's girlfriend and also Brooks' ex-girlfriend, told a 911 dispatcher and Elyria police that she saw Brooks shoot Taylor. She repeated her story on the stand in all three trials. Brooks fled Ohio after the murder. He lied about his identity to a deputy sheriff who pulled him and two other men over in their car in North Carolina a day later, then turned himself into federal authorities in Cincinnati nine days after the murder. Assistant County Prosecutors Chris Pierre and Matt Kern said the motive was jealousy: Brooks and Tavarez have two children together, and Tavarez was dating Taylor while Brooks was in prison on unrelated criminal charges. They said cellphone evidence and surveillance video put Brooks in Elyria that night. Defense attorneys Giovanna Scaletta-Bremke and Denise Wilms argued that no physical evidence linked Brooks to the murder and suggested other suspects possibly wanted Taylor dead because of his alleged involvement in dealing illegal drugs or possible romantic affairs. Brooks also had an alibi: He was in Lorain listening to music and getting fast food with a female friend. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.