Parties argue over victim Oscar Lang's cause of death during Malakhi Young trial

ELRYIA — What killed Oscar Lang Jr.? Following an autopsy, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office said the 78-year-old retired autoworker and U.S. Army veteran's cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head suffered in a July 2020 assault and ruled it a homicide. Accused killer Malakhi Young's defense is that Lang failed to take care of his own health, including multiple heart conditions and diabetes, and that was what led to his August 2020 death. Dr. Todd Barr, a former deputy Cuyahoga County medical examiner who now works for the Franklin County Coroner's Office, testified Friday in Lorain County Common Pleas Court that the beating Lang took led to a decline in his health and his eventual death. A veteran of what he estimated were 2,600 autopsies during his career, Barr testified that Lang suffered from multiple health issues that were made worse by the beating he took during a July 24, 2020, home invasion at his West 25th Street residence. The Lorain County Prosecutor's Office said Young and several other unnamed people broke into Lang's residence, where Young beat Lang with a stolen handgun while demanding money, drugs and guns. Someone else involved in the crime possibly used a pair of binoculars to beat Lang, according to testimony in court. Forensic testing found Lang's blood and Young's DNA on the gun after it was recovered less than a week later during a traffic stop. Lang died at Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center exactly a month after the assault. The Lorain Police Department and county Prosecutor's Office brought murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary and other charges against Young. Young, now 20 but who was 15 at the time of Lang's beating, is being tried as an adult in Judge Melissa Kobasher's court. He has pleaded not guilty. No one else is charged in Lang's death. Charges against suspect Jonathan Quillen were filed in 2020 then dismissed by prosecutors in 2021 after further investigation. Lang had congestive heart failure, hypertension (high blood pressure), Type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), cardiomegaly (an enlarged heart), biventricular hypertrophy (enlarging of the left and right ventricles of the heart), kidney disease and cerebral atherosclerosis (plaque buildup in the arteries of the brain). Lang previously had a heart bypass, had his gallbladder removed and was showing signs of dementia among his multiple other health conditions, according to his medical records, his autopsy and Barr's testimony. At the time of his autopsy, Lang had pneumonia, fluid buildup in his chest cavity known as pleural effusion, inflammation in his lungs and likely had a viral or bacterial infection, Barr testified. In other words, "he had a lot of health issues?" Assistant Prosecutor Daniellela Leigh asked Barr. "He did," Barr replied. He said that his office used all the information it had from records and the police investigation to come to a ruling that the beating sealed Lang's fate. Lang was "never able to fully recover" from the assault and went into a "steady decline over four weeks" that ended in his death, Barr testified. In his final month, Lang would have had difficulty moving, difficulty breathing, been confused and his metabolism would have been affected, Barr testified. Defense attorney Kreig Brusnahan saw it differently. During his cross-examination of Barr, he cited numerous examples from Lang's medical records of times that Lang allegedly didn't take care of himself, didn't refill his prescription medication and didn't manage his uncontrolled blood sugar levels. Lang had reduced blood flow to his heart, which weighed two to three times what a normal heart weighs, was at risk for an irregular heartbeat and had high salt levels in his blood. He had chronic fluid buildup in his legs that is a symptom of congestive heart failure and likely nerve damage, the medical examiner testified. Lang also apparently fell while being treated at Mercy Health Hospital in Lorain, where a nurse found him sitting on the floor claiming he hit his head. Hospital records also indicated that Lang was suffering from altered mental status, possible delirium and encephalopathy — a medical term for a number of conditions that can change brain function. He also was supposed to be discharged from the hospital to a skilled nursing facility but wasn't, according to Brusnahan's line of questioning. No doctor diagnosed Lang with a traumatic brain injury at any time, according to medical records presented in court, and the facial fractures he suffered during the beating were "not immediately life-threatening" according to what Mercy Health doctors wrote in his medical records. Asked to comment on the fall, Barr told Brusnahan it would have been "concerning if he (Lang) sustained any injuries from it." "But we don't know" because medical records aren't clear on that, Brusnahan replied. None of what the defense brought up was enough to change Barr's opinion on the cause and manner of Lang's death, he told Leigh after a follow-up question. Oscar Lang's brother John Lang previously testified that he personally saw his brother taking his prescribed medication and regularly checking his blood sugar in the days after the home invasion. Testimony resumes Tuesday with the prosecution's last three witnesses including the case's lead investigator, Lorain police Detective Kurt Graupmann. Also on Friday, Kobasher dismissed one of the 14 jurors that have spent two days hearing testimony in the case. The man told the judge Friday that he was having trouble getting to court on time and had a medical issue. His dismissal leaves 13 jurors. Only 12 of those will decide Young's guilt or innocence, with one being chosen as an alternate prior to deliberations. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.