Murder trial of Roosevelt Benton delayed after attorneys withdrawn (UPDATED)

This story has been updated to correct the last name of attorney Antonio Nicholson. The murder trial of Roosevelt Benton of Oberlin, which originally was set to begin Monday, has been pushed back after Benton successfully petitioned to have his attorneys removed from the case. Benton, 19, is accused of murder in the shooting death of 21-year-old Nicholas Tubbs of Grafton in the parking lot of the Elyria Walmart Supercenter, 1000 Chestnut Commons Drive, last year. A jury trial in the case was scheduled to begin on Monday before Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Melissa Kobasher, but last week Benton succeeded in having his attorneys Deanna Robertson and Antonio Nicholson, both of Cleveland, removed. Benton attempted to file a pro se motion for new counsel on Wednesday of last week, but because he already had legal representation Kobasher was unable to accept the motion, according to court records. A status hearing was held in Kobasher's court on Thursday in which the motion could be heard, and Robertson and Nicholson were both withdrawn from the case. Kobasher canceled the jury trial and set a date for another status hearing on Aug. 23. Court records said that a new trial date would be selected at that follow-up hearing. This was not the first time that Benton has changed counsel, as Elyria Municipal Court Judge Robert White initially appointed Oberlin attorney Anthony Rich to serve as Benton's public defender. Rich was withdrawn when Benton retained Robertson and Nicholson as his counsel. As of Monday afternoon, court records did not indicate that a new attorney has been appointed or retained to represent him. Elyria police were called to the parking lot of Walmart on Nov. 2, 2023, after a reported shooting and discovered Tubbs there, wounded by a gunshot. Tubbs was taken to University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center and later to UH Cleveland Medical Center for treatment, but he was pronounced dead the next day. Elyria police investigated the shooting and arrested Benton the day after the shooting, Nov. 3. Benton is charged with murder, felonious assault, improperly handling firearms in a vehicle and carrying a concealed weapon. Benton is currently being held in the Lorain County Jail on a $1 million bond. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.