Murder or defense of others: Jurors hear accounts of fatal 2024 Columbia Twp. bar shooting

ELYRIA — There are two very different accounts of what happened the night of May 10, 2024, inside Joker's Pub and Grub on Sprague Road in Columbia Township. In one account, two brothers who had been drinking for more than seven hours at that and another local bar got into a fistfight because they were told they couldn't use racial slurs. One of the two then retrieved a gun from his truck, went back inside the bar and shot and killed a beloved bar regular, local businessman Jason Kleinman. In the other account, James Stewart and his brother Mark Stewart were threatened and assaulted by Kleinman and his friend Lewis Wade, two large men looking for a fight that night, forcing a scared James Stewart to end a threat with deadly force. Jurors hearing the murder case against James Stewart in Lorain County Common Pleas Court were asked Wednesday by the county Prosecutor's Office and defense attorney Michael Stepanik to look at the facts before deciding whether James Stewart murdered Kleinman in cold blood or acted in defense of himself and others. No one disputes James Stewart, 42, of Brunswick, shot and killed Kleinman, 49, of Olmsted Falls that night. What is disputed is why and whether he was justified. James Stewart has pleaded not guilty to felony charges of murder, felonious assault, illegal possession of a firearm in a liquor permit premises and related specifications, as well as misdemeanor charges of assault and using weapons while intoxicated. He is free on bond. The Prosecutor's Office has the burden to prove James Stewart didn't shoot Kleinman in self-defense or defense of others. "'I got 40 rounds, I'm gonna take care of this right now,'" Assistant Prosecutor Daniellela Leigh told the jury in her opening statement, allegedly quoting something James Stewart said in the bar that night. He and his brother Mark Stewart and their uncle Danny Tallmadge had been drinking liquor and beer all afternoon at Ace's Depot in Olmsted Falls and Joker's that day. Around 10 p.m. that night is when Mark and James Stewart got in a fight with Kleinman's friend, Lewis Wade. Wade is Black, and Leigh told jurors that the Stewarts got into a fight with him because they were told "they couldn't use the 'N' word." Leigh said Wade was assaulted by James Stewart, but didn't fight back. James Stewart got his Heckler & Koch VP9 9 mm handgun from his truck and brought it back into the bar. When Kleinman and Mark Stewart got into a fight, James Stewart fired three rounds. Two hit Kleinman, killing him. The third hit a bowling machine in the bar. No one else was injured in the shooting. It stopped being self-defense when James Stewart left the bar, armed himself and went back inside, Leigh told the the jury. "That's not fear. That's rage. That's intent. That's murder," she said. Stepanik disagreed. The Stewarts were up against Wade and Kleinman, both larger than them and looking for a fight. A motorcycle enthusiast, Kleinman had a "one-percenter" patch on his biker vest, identifying him among the "1 percent" of bikers who are "proud outlaw bikers," Stepanik said. Kleinman also was legally intoxicated and had "multiple" bags of cocaine on him at the time of his death, Stepanik told the jury. Kleinman and Wade prided themselves on causing trouble and were being intimidating that night "for no other reason than they could," he said. They were threatening the Stewarts, and were in the bar to "f*** with people," Stepanik said in his opening statement, using a curse word. The bar fight was part of "mass chaos" at Joker's that night, and Kleinman's death "sad" and "avoidable," but it wasn't murder, Stepanik said. Tallmadge testified Wednesday that James Stewart, who calls him "Uncle D," took him to Ace's Depot for drinks and food around 3 p.m. May 10, 2024. They were joined shortly before 4 p.m. by Mark Stewart. Using surveillance video from both Ace's and Joker's, Chief Assistant Prosecutor Chris Pierre counted the number of drinks the three men had. Tallmadge testified that the tally of 12 alcoholic drinks for James Stewart, nine for Mark Stewart and six for himself between 3 and 10 p.m. that day probably was accurate. Tallmadge, who now lives in Florida but was visiting family in Ohio, said he wasn't worried that James Stewart had been drinking when he drove him from Ace's to the grocery store for cigarettes, then to Joker's, then back to Ace's and finally back to Joker's in the span of about seven hours. James Stewart "seemed quite coherent" for as much as he drank, Tallmadge testified. Tallmadge testified he switched to soft drinks after six alcoholic drinks so that he could be the sober driver if needed. Cindy Austin, who was the bartender on duty that night, testified to serving the Stewarts and their uncle three alcoholic drinks and one soft drink between them. James Stewart also bought two Long Island iced teas for two women at the bar. When they began shouting at each other, Austin testified she told Wade and James Stewart to take the fight outside into the parking lot. She testified no one ever fought while she was on shift at Joker's for the year she worked there, May 2023 to May 2024. As Wade and James Stewart continued to throw punches, Mark Stewart got between them and James Stewart hit his brother. When Kleinman grabbed Mark Stewart from behind, James Stewart pulled his gun and fired. Austin testified she thought she heard five gunshots, though prosecutors said only three were fired. She testified what she heard "at first sounded like those red little firecrackers going off." Surveillance video from the bar that prosecutors played for the jury showed the shooting from a distance, then showed James Stewart running out the back door pushing another man in front of him. He also called 911 and spoke to a dispatcher, according to Stepanik's opening statement. Austin, who fought back tears during her testimony Wednesday morning, no longer works at Joker's. She testified she tried to go back but "mentally couldn't do it anymore." The first Lorain County sheriff's deputy to arrive, Dimitri Petsas, got to Joker's 15 minutes after the first 911 call. He testified he found Kleinman on the floor in a pool of blood, a gunshot wound to his head, and that there was nothing he could do for him. James Stewart had already left, but Mark Stewart was still at the scene, intoxicated, with his emotions going "up and down," Petsas testified. Mark Stewart declined or ignored all offers of medical attention, he testified. Judge Chris Cook is presiding over the case. Testimony resumes today. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.