Savion McCall trial starts with testimony of victim's mother

The first time Jessica Baker's mother knew the 17-year-old had left the house on Oct. 17, 2019, was when Lorain police came to her home to tell her her daughter had been killed. Baker's mother, Victoria Wachholz, testified Tuesday after opening statements in the state's case against Savion McCall, 22, of Lorain. McCall is charged with murder, two counts of felonious assault, one count of discharging a firearm on or near a prohibited premises and tampering with evidence in the shooting death of Baker, who was shot in the back during a drive-by shooting near West 25th Street and Kelly Place in Lorain in 2019. Opening statements Prosecutor Dan Kasaris alleged during opening statements that neither McCall nor Baker's boyfriend, Christian Marshall, called 911 after the Clearview High School senior was shot that night. Marshall, 23, was convicted last fall of 11 felony charges, including murder and attempted murder. Judge James Miraldi, who is the judge in McCall's trial as well, sentenced Marshall to life with the possibility of parole after 34 to 38 years. During opening statements, Kasaris argued McCall had gotten into a fight at the Sunoco on Broadway earlier that evening with Lucas Williams, with McCall taunting Williams to shoot at him. The group with Williams and those with McCall left the gas station, then attempted to fight in the Wendy's parking lot off Colorado Avenue before Connie Jenkins — McCall's girlfriend's mother — broke it up and called the police, according to Kasaris. After the fight at Wendy's, McCall allegedly called Marshall, while Williams and his group of friends went back to his West 25th Street home. Kasaris argued that Marshall then called Jessica Baker via Snapchat, asking her to bring him his black bag with a 9 mm gun in it, prompting Baker to take the keys to her parents' Jeep to pick up Marshall and McCall. Marshall then, according to Kasaris, drove the Jeep to Williams' West 25th Street home where shots were fired from the driver's side of the Jeep to the driver's side of a Chevrolet Impala that Williams had been in during the altercation earlier that evening. Hannah Gfell, 27, and Jeremiah Blair, 24, were, according to Kasaris, in the Impala at the time of the shooting but were not injured. Williams then shot back at the Jeep as it drove away, with one of the bullets traveling through the passenger side door and into Baker's back, killing her. According to Kasaris, after Baker was shot Marshall dropped McCall off and Marshall continued to drive around until he was in the area of 806 W. 21st St. when he called 911 and was met by Lorain police and the Lorain County Coroner. Kasaris argued McCall was complicit in Marshall's crimes, and incited the drive-by shooting that led to Baker's death. McCall's attorney, Michael Stepanik disputed the state's characterization of McCall's role in the night's events, arguing the testimony scheduled from Williams, Gfell, and a third man, Michael Findlay, would contain little facts. He argued Williams had already hidden his gun by the time officers arrived at the scene of the shot-up Impala, and that the bullet holes in the Impala were not near its occupants. The Impala was turned off, parked on the street at the time of the shooting. He said the charge of tampering with evidence was because McCall changed his clothes, but argued officers never asked McCall for the clothes he was wearing when they spoke to him in the days after Baker's death. Williams pleaded guilty to manslaughter with a one-year firearm specification in September. His sentencing is set for March 15. An argument at Sunoco Testimony from those with McCall in the evening leading up to the shooting said he had gotten into a fight at the Sunoco on Broadway with Williams due to a prior conflict between Williams and Marshall. McCall's girlfriend's mother, Connie Jenkins, of Sheffield Lake, said her daughter, Shakira Jenkins, 21, called her after the incident at the Sunoco and was upset. Shakira Jenkins was driving the car with her brother and McCall inside near the Henderson Bridge when Williams pulled up in a car beside them and pointed a gun at them while stopped at a red light and then started following her. Jenkins said she told her daughter to run the light if she had to and testified that she was driving on state Route 611 on the other side of the Henderson Bridge to meet up with her daughter. All three cars pulled into the Wendy's on Colorado Avenue where a fistfight almost took place, Connie Jenkins said. She reported it to the police, calling in the license plate of the car Williams was in before the group dispersed. Shakira Jenkins' brother Andre Gardner, 20, testified that after dropping his girlfriend off, they picked McCall up and went to the Sunoco gas station, where McCall got into an argument with Williams. While Shakira Jenkins was driving, Gardner said McCall was on the phone with Marshall telling him "We have to score." He then testified that McCall began choking Shakira Jenkins while she was driving, prompting Gardner to get out of the car and try dragging McCall out. Eventually, they got back in the car to go home, Gardner said, and they met up with Connie Jenkins in the Wendy's parking lot. After the fight, Gardner said they went back to their home in Sheffield Lake while McCall stayed outside. McCall's trial continues today in Miraldi's courtroom. Chief photographer Bruce Bishop contributed to this report. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.